Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday advised young IAS officers to be bold to bring changes for the betterment of the society. He also asked the civil servants to avoid getting into a mindset that resists change, and fill India's administrative system with the energy of 'New India'.
Modi was addressing the 2015 batch of IAS officers, who recently joined service as Assistant Secretaries.
In his speech to the young officers, the PM reiterated that boldness is required to drive change. He said a fragmented administrative arrangement does not allow the collective capabilities of officers to deliver to the optimum level and a dynamic change is needed to transform the system.
He asked young officers to interact freely with senior-most officers of the Union government over the next three months of their stint as Assistant Secretaries so that the system could benefit from the combination of their energy and fresh ideas, and the administrative experience of Secretary-level officers, a statement issued by the Department of Personnel and Training said.
The Prime Minister asked the young officers to recall their life up to the day of the UPSC result, the challenges they faced and use the opportunities they will now have, to bring about positive changes in the system, and the lives of the common people.
Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh and senior government officers were present on the occasion. J Singh said the Government has strived to create a work friendly environment and during the last three years the parameters of Governance have risen high and now the accountability, transparency, public expectations and media scrutiny are much higher.
Cabinet Secretary Pradeep Kumar Sinha said the experiment of IAS officers starting their career with an initial stint of three months as Assistant Secretaries in the Central Government has been extremely useful since its inception three years ago. Sinha said the flagship programme and other priority schemes will be their focus of attention with particular emphasis on states and districts that are lagging behind.