Asking civil servants to make transforming the life of common people their foremost goal , Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday exhorted them to evaluate every decision in the context of "nation first".
Speaking on the Civil Service Day when he also conferred the Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Public Administration here at Vigyan Bhawan, Modi stressed on 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. The Prime Minister said 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.
In his address , Modi listed three goals that he said they should be keeping before themselves while serving the democratic set up of the country. "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. 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.", he said. This apart, the Prime Minister sought public Servants to be in step with global changes and developments lest the focus of their decisions is lost.
“ 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, Modi said.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, he emphasized. "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", said Prime Minister while driving his point home to the Civil Servants. Union Minister Jitendra Singh, Principal Secretary to Prime Minister, P K Mishra, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba were among those present on the occasion.
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.
Similarly, he said 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.