Make national interest sole basis of your every decision: PM to civil servants

STATE TIMES NEWS

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday urged bureaucrats to make national interest the sole basis of their every decision, saying the country has put its faith in them and they must uphold that trust.
Addressing bureaucrats on the occasion of Civil Services Day here, Modi said it is the duty of civil servants to analyse whether a political party in power is using taxpayers’ money for its own benefit or for the nation.

J&K Mission Youth wins PM’s Award for Excellence in Public Admin
NEW DELHI: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha’s brainchild and Jammu & Kashmir Government’s flagship inter-sectoral initiative “Mission Youth”, a specially designed programme for empowering youth made it to the highest civil services awards based on outstanding achievements over last two years.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi conferred the coveted Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration which was received by the Chief Secretary Dr Arun Kumar Mehta, accompanied by CEO Mission Youth Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, on the occasion of Civil Services Day held at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi on Friday.
CEO Mission Youth, Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary earlier made the presentation before the Empowered Committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba leading to selection of Mission Youth in a multi-staged evaluation and selection process over last six months. Mission Youth clinched the top position in over 600 nominations from across all the States and Union Territories in the Innovation (State) category, while second position was bagged by Gujarat Government’s State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (SOTTO). Mission Youth was selected for innovations leading to empowerment of youth in Jammu and Kashmir which included schemes in education, Skilling, coaching, volunteerism and effective use of technology for a very transparent and effective service delivery. With more than 61,000 youth benefitted under schemes and close to 5 Lakh youth engaged over last two years Mission Youth earned the rate distinction of reaching out to maximum youth under any such initiative in the country.
The award carried Rs 20.00 Lakh special Cash Reward for Mission Youth, Citation , a Scroll and a Certificate of Appreciation in favour of CEO Mission Youth Dr Shahid Choudhary for placing in Performance Appraisal Dossier of the officer by the Deptt of Personnel and Trainings as the PMA scheme guidelines.
Chief Secretary Dr Arun Kumar Mehta described the occasion as momentous for Jammu and Kashmir UT especially the youth. He complemented CEO Mission Youth Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary and his team for outstanding performance and contribution leading to such a rare feat in a short span of over last two years. He reiterated the commitment of administration for taking every step to empower the youth and steps for a very meaningful engagement.
CEO Mission Youth, Dr Shahid Choudhary expressed great satisfaction over the very positive response to the initiatives by youth of Jammu and Kashmir, and proactive measures by the departments and especially Deputy Commissioners in making the scheme a grand success at the ground level. Pertinently, Mission Youth has been picked up as a unique cases study by the Capacity Building Commission of India in collaboration with Harvard Business School for inclusion in courses of top management and public policy schools. Dr Shahid thanked Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha for leadership of Mission Youth and personal efforts to bring stakeholder companies and organisations to Jammu and Kashmir. He expressed gratitude to the Chief Secretary for complete administrative oversight and support, effective role played by Administrative Secretaries, Dy Commissioners, DECCs and HoDs besides the OSDs and DD Mission Youth
DC Baramulla Dr Syed Sehrish also received prestigious prime minister’s award for excellence in public administration 2022 during the ceremony.
The Citation of Honour underlines the special initiatives like Youth Portal, customised livelihood linked schemes like Mumkin and Tejaswini, education support like Parvaz, Youth clubs and the effectiveness of District Level Task Force headed by DCs as many of the unique features of Mission Youth leading to a sustainable and effective platform of youth empowerment in Jammu and Kashmir.
Mission Youth awarded under the Innovation (State) category for PM award has launched more than 15 schemes for youth which include Mumkin, Tejaswini – for women, Parvaz (Graduate): UPSC Coaching, Parvaz (XII): NEET/JEE coaching , Rise Together, Tourist Village Scheme, Spurring Entrepreneurship, Protsahan, LG Super-75 (Girls & Boys), LG Rolling Trophy in sports, Know-India Love-India: Bharat Darshan, Skill Development courses scheme , Youth Innovation Scheme , SAHAYETA: youth with disabilities, Scheme for youth in distress: Psycho-Social counselling and Hausla among others.

The prime minister also hailed the contribution of civil servants to nation building and said India’s rapid development would not have been possible without their active participation.
In his nearly 33-minute speech, Modi urged “each and every” government employee, whether at state or central level, to ensure national interest is the sole basis of every decision they take.
“As the world is saying that India’s time has arrived, there is no time to waste for the bureaucracy of the country. The country has put its faith in you, work while maintaining that trust. National interest should always be the basis of all your decisions,” he said.
Speaking on the theme of this year’s Civil Services Day, ‘Viksit Bharat’ (Developed India), he said the concept is not limited to modern infrastructure.
“It is important for Viksit Bharat that India’s government system supports the aspirations of every Indian and every government servant helps every citizen in realising their dreams and the negativity that was associated with the system in the previous years turns into positivity,” he said.
Modi said the motto of his government is “nation first, citizen first” and its priority is prioritising the deprived.
He told the civil servants that there are two approaches to life — first, getting things done and second, letting things happen.
“The first is an active attitude and the second reflects a passive attitude. People with faith in getting things done take ownership in a proactive manner and become the driving force of their teams.
“With this burning desire to bring change in the lives of the people, you will be able to leave behind a memorable legacy. You will not be judged by what you have done for yourself but by what changes you have brought in the lives of the people,” he said. Therefore, Modi said, good governance is the key. “People-centric governance solves problems and gives better results,” he added.
Highlighting the importance and necessity of political parties with different ideologies in a democracy, the prime minister stressed the need for the bureaucrats to assess whether a political party in power is using public money for its own growth or for the nation.
“It is the duty of the bureaucracy to analyse whether a political party is making use of taxpayers’ money for the benefit of its own organisation or for the nation, whether it is using the money to create a vote bank or making the lives of the citizens easier, whether it is advertising itself with the government treasure or making the people aware, whether it is appointing its own party workers in various organisations or creating a transparent process for recruitment,” he said.
Modi said the civil servants should keep these things in mind while taking any decision.
Recalling the words of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, India’s first home minister, who termed the bureaucracy the steel frame of India, the prime minister said it is time to live up to the expectations and ensure that the dreams of youths are not crushed and taxpayers’ money is not destroyed.
Modi also hit out at the corruption of previous governments.
“It was the legacy of the earlier system that there were over four crore fake gas connections. It was the legacy of the earlier system that there were over four crore bogus ration cards in the country. It was the legacy of the earlier system that one crore fictitious women and children were getting assistance from the Women and Child Development Ministry.
“It was also the legacy of the earlier system that lakhs of fake accounts were created under MGNREGA to transfer the benefits of workers who never existed,” he said.
He credited the civil servants for the transformation of the system and preventing nearly Rs 3 lakh crore from landing in the wrong hands, which, he said, is now being used for the welfare of the poor.
Highlighting his government’s initiative to do away with the protocol of hierarchy, Modi said he constantly meets secretaries, assistant secretaries and trainee officers.
He said this Civil Services Day is very significant as the country completed 75 years of independence this year.
“The century of independence will be the golden century of the country when we will give first priority to our duties. Duty is not an option for us but a resolution,” he said.
During the event, Modi also conferred the Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Public Administration to recognise the extraordinary and innovative work done by districts and organisations of the central and state governments.
In his opening remarks, Dr Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, said that in the past 9 years under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, many revolutionary changes have taken place, which were not just limited to being governance reforms but have wide societal impact and can infact also be described as social and economic reforms.
Principal Secretary to Prime Minister P K Mishra; Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba; and Secretary, Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, V Srinivas were also present on the occasion.