Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that the role of civil servants should be of minimum government and maximum governance as he urged them to take decisions towards India’s unity and to maintain the spirit of the Constitution as they work as the steel frame of the country. The government, the Prime Minister reminded the probationers, does not run from the top so the incorporation of policies, which are for the people, becomes very important.
People are not just the receiver of government policies and programs but “Janata Janardana” is the real driving force, he said. “That is why we need to move from government to governance,” he said. “In the mode in which the country is working today, the role of all you bureaucrats is of Minimum Government, Maximum Governance. You have to make sure that your interference in the lives of citizens is minimum, how it should empowerment the common man,” he said while addressing them virtually from Gujarat’s Kevadia.
The Prime Minister also talked about the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, India’s first home minister, who used the phrase steel frame for the civil services in the country. “Sardar Saheb’s advice to the officers was that serving the citizens of the country is your highest duty. I also urge that whatever decision a civil servant takes, should be in the national context, should strengthen the unity and integrity of the country,” PM Modi said. “Even if your area and section you handle are small, you should always have people’s interest in mind and that there should be a national perspective,” he added.
He said that the work of the steel frame is not just to provide the base and only to manage ongoing arrangements.
“The work of steel frame also has to make the country feel that even if there is a big crisis or a big change, you will cooperate in advancing the country by becoming a force, facilitate,” he said
The Prime Minister was addressing officer trainees belonging to various civil services currently undergoing the foundation course at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) in Mussoorie through videoconference as a culmination of Aarambh 2020.
Aarambh, the LBSNAA website said, is an initiative to bring all probationers of All India Service, Group-A Central Service and Foreign Service together for a Common Foundation Course (CFC) with the vision to break the silos of departments and services from the very beginning of the career of a civil servant.
This ‘Aarambh’ is not just the beginning, it is also a symbol and a new tradition, he said as he talked about another campaign launched by his government. “The government has started another campaign a few days ago – Mission Karmayogi. Mission Karmayogi is a new experiment of its kind in the direction of capacity building,” he said.
Prime Minister Modi earlier witnessed the National Unity Day or Rashtriya Ekta Diwas parade on the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in Kevadia, Gujarat. The parade tableau included National Disaster Response Force’s (NDRF) Medical First Respondent (MFR) and Flood Water Rescue (FWR) vehicles, Border Security Force’s (BSF) Mine Protected Vehicle (MPV) and Central Reserve Police Force’s (CRPF) Critical Response Vehicle.
The Central Reserve Police Force’s (CRPF’s) Women Warriors’ also performed a rifle drill and Gujarat’s department of sports youth and cultural affairs presented a cultural programme. The Prime Minister also administered the Rashtriya Ekta Pledge in Kevadia.
PM Modi is on a two-day visit to Gujarat, the first time since the coronavirus disease outbreak and the lockdown in March, to mark Rashtriya Ekta Diwas, celebrating the birth anniversary of Sardar Patel.