Civil Services Day: It is the duty of the government system to nurture, unleash and support the capability of the society says PM Modi
PM confers Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Public Administration on Civil Services Day“India @100 can’t be
routine. This 25-year period should be seen as a unit and we should have a
vision from now onwards itself. This year’s celebration should be a watershed.”
“There should be a change in the life of the common people in the country,
their life should be easy and they should also be able to feel this ease”
“We should be there to handhold at every stage in the common man’s journey of
Sapna (dream) to Sankalp (resolve) to Siddhi (completion) ”
“If we don’t follow the activities at the global level, it will be very
difficult to ascertain our priorities and focus area. We need to develop our
schemes and governance models keeping this perspective in mind”
“Reform in governance should be our natural stance”
“‘Nation First’ should always inform our decisions”
“We should not be governed by the regulations and mentality that emerged in the
period of scarcity, we should have an attitude of abundance”
“I am not of the temperament of Rajniti but I am naturally inclined to
Janniiti”
On the occasion of Civil Services Day, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi conferred the Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in
Public Administration at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi today. Union Minister
Jitendra Singh, Principal Secretary to Prime Minister, PK Mishra and Cabinet
Secretary Rajiv Gauba were among those present on the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister
greeted all the ‘Karmayogis’ on the Civil Service Day. He started with
suggestion for improving the governance and knowledge sharing. He suggested all
the training academies can virtually share the process and experiences of the
award winners on a weekly basis. Secondly, from the award-winning projects, one
scheme may be chosen for implementation among few districts and the experience
of the same may be discussed in the next year’s Civil Service Day.
The Prime Minister recalled that he has been
interacting with Civil Servants for last 20-22 years, first, as Chief Minister
and later, as the Prime Minister. It has been a mutually learning experience,
he said. Modi underlined the
significance of this year’s celebration as it is taking place in the year of
Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. He asked the administrators to call past district
administrators in this special year to the district. This will infuse new
energy in the district and will provide a welcome dynamism in perspective of
district administration informed by the experience of the past. Similarly,
Chief Ministers of states can call former Chief Secretaries, Cabinet
Secretaries from the state in this landmark year to commemorate and take
benefit from the flag-bearers of administrative machinery that have contributed
significantly in the journey of Independent India. This will be an appropriate
way of honouring the civil service in the year of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.
He said Amrit Kaal is not just for celebration or
praising the past and journey from 75 to 100 year just cannot be routine.
“India @100 can’t be routine. This 25-year period should be seen as a unit and we
should have a vision from now onwards itself. This celebration should be a
watershed.” Every district should move with this spirit. There should not be
any let up in the efforts and this is the time to rededicate ourselves to the
pledges and directions that Sardar Patel gave on this day in 1947, the Prime
Minister said.
The Prime Minister said that in our democratic set
up we should be committed to three goals. The first goal is that there should
be a change in the life of the common people in the country, their life should
be easy and they should also be able to feel this ease. Common people should
not have to struggle in their dealings with the government, benefits and
services should be available to them without hassle.
“Taking the dreams of the common man to a level of
resolve is the responsibility of the system. This Sankalp (resolve) should be
taken to Siddhi (completion) and that should be the goal for all of us. We
should be there to handhold at every stage in this journey of Sapna (dream, to
Sankalp (resolve) to Siddhi (completion)”, he added.
Secondly, given the growing stature and changing
profile if India, it is imperative that whatever we do, that should be done in
the global context. If we don’t follow the activities at the global level, it
will be very difficult to ascertain our priorities and focus area. We need to
develop our schemes and governance models keeping this perspective in mind, The
Prime Minister said. The Prime Minister emphasized that our systems and models
should keep on getting updated at a regular speed, we cannot deal with the
challenges of today with the systems of last century.
Thirdly, he said “Wherever we are in the system,
our prime responsibility is the unity and integrity of the country, there
cannot be any compromise. Even local decisions should be measured on this
touchstone. Every decision of ours should be evaluated on its capacity to
provide strength to the country’s unity and integrity. ‘Nation First’ should
always inform our decisions.
The great culture of India, our country is not made
of royal systems and royal thrones. The tradition that we have for thousands of
years has been a tradition of carrying on the strength of the common man. This
also informs the county’s spirit of accepting change and modernity while
preserving our ancient wisdom, the Prime Minister said. He highlighted that it
is the duty of the government system to nurture, unleash and support the
capability of the society. He gave examples of innovations taking place in the
start-up ecosystem and agriculture and asked the administrators to play a
nurturing and supportive role.
Underlining the difference between the typist and
sitar player, the Prime Minister emphasized the need to live an examined life,
a life of dreams and enthusiasm and purpose. “I want to live every moment so
that I can serve and help other to live well”, he said. Modi exhorted the officers to live beyond the
beaten path and think out of box. Reform in governance should be our natural
stance, he continued, governance reforms should be experimentative and as per
the needs of the time and country. He referred to reduction of obsolete laws
and number of compliances as one of his key priorities. The Prime Minister said
that we should not change only under pressure but should try to improve
pro-actively. We should not be governed by the regulations and mentality that
emerged in the period of scarcity, we should have an attitude of abundance.
Similarly, we should anticipate rather than just react to the challenges. PM
emphasized that “during the last 8 years, many big things have happened in the
country. Many of these campaigns are such that there is behavioral change in
its origin”. He said he is not of the temperament of Rajniti but of Janniiti.
He concluded by requesting the officers to adopt
the key reforms in their personal lives. For example, whether cleanliness, use
of GeM or UPI is there in their own life or not.
Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Public
Administration have been instituted with a view to recognize the extraordinary
and innovative work done by Districts/implementing units and Central/State
organisations for the welfare of common citizens. They are also conferred for
effective implementation of identified priority programs and innovation.
Exemplary work done in the following five
identified priority programmes will be given awards which is to be presented on
Civil Services Day 2022: (i) Promoting “Jan Bhagidari” or People’s
Participation in Poshan Abhiyan, (ii) Promoting excellence in sports and
wellness through Khelo India scheme, (iii) Digital payments and Good Governance
in PM SVANidhi Yojana, (iv) Holistic Development through One District One
Product scheme, (v) Seamless, End-to-End Delivery of Services without Human
Intervention.
A total of 16 awards for 5 identified Priority
Programmes and for innovations in the sphere of public administration/delivery
of services etc. will be given this year.