PM hails Civil Service as champion of decentralization

NI Wire

New Delhi

Tue, 22 Apr 2008: 

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on third Civil Services Day on April 21, hailed the service as a champion contributing positively for the smooth functioning of our democracy, pluralistic society, polity and our growing economy.

He said, “If inclusive growth is our agen, there could be no better champions for it, than our civil service.

”

To erase the dissatisfaction of civil servants and armed forces, PM also approved their demand of higher pay package saying, “I would like our civil and defence services personnel to be properly rewarded.”

Prime Minister said that observing Civil Service Day gives an opportunity to reflect on achievements, acknowledge the same and to discuss various challenges ahead and to look for solution.

“Such an occasion is also of great value to us in the political executive. It offers an opportunity to share our perceptions on governance, our feedback from citizens on where we fail to meet their aspirations and engage with the civil service in forging a shared understanding on our collective agenda for efficient and equitable governance,” he added.

With all praise for civil services he said that looking back at the history of modern administration which has helped India becoming a modern nation by imbibing Gandhi’s vision as well as sucking the best from outside the world.

Dr Singh said that many took our economic reform as gradualistic but today they acknowledge it as stable and sustainable only because of guiding hands of top civil servants.

“If we have been able to deepen our democracy through empowerment of local government, and broaden it through civil society action, this is also because the civil services have been supportive of all these creative initiatives,” he added.

He emphasised on the relation between government and civil servants, in which government is responsible for accelerating the pace of growth and also making the growth process inclusive while civil servants look for economic modernization and liberalisation, for making government less intrusive and more transparent.

“If inclusive growth is our agenda as it must be, there could be no better champions for it, than our civil service which by its very nature draws people from all over the country. People from Kanyakumari work to sort out issues in Kashmir, and vice versa. This inclusive character of civil service reinforces our diversity, our common purpose, and our shared destiny,” he further said.

He hailed civil service as facilitators of democracy and champions of decentralisations and calls for reaching all section of society and satisfy them.

He congratulated the winners of various award and asked them to come ahead with more such creative endeavour to find solution to the problems of the citizens.

“Professionalism is a state of mind. As Gandhiji used to say, "we must endeavour to be the change that we want to see”. To encourage such professionalism, the civil services require a renewed commitment to knowledge. We live in a knowledge-based society. Modern firms often value the intellectual capital of their professionals as part of the net worth of the company. People make institutions. We must therefore invest more in opportunities that enhance the knowledge base of our civil services. Our Government has renewed such commitment to knowledge through the efforts of the Department of Personnel in strengthening training programmes for the civil services,” he said.

He said that the challenge before civil service is to manage effective and equitable delivery of public services and time to enhance in sector like food distribution, nutrition and basic health services where there are lot to be done.

“The All India Services have validated Sardar Patel’s vision that they are an imperative for a strong, stable and free India. Jawaharlal Nehru’s vision of ending poverty, ignorance, disease and the inequality of opportunity is a challenge that is still very much with us. The higher rate of economic growth that we have been able to register has made this challenge easier than before.”

Further, he asked to create open, transparent and accountable systems of delivery and to evolve as one of the best civil services in the world. At the end while wishing the august gathering, PM said that he expect high degree of professionalism from them and ask them to rise above expectation of people.