PM praises union secretaries for devoting 10,000 mandays on governance beyond office hours

10 of 677 districts selected for PM Awards 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today praised the union secretaries, saying that they had devoted 10,000 mandays on key governance areas over and above their usual office hours. PM who addressed as many as 1,200 civil servants in New Delhi on the occasion of Civil Services Day referred to the recently constituted committees of secretaries on key areas of governance, adding that officers worked on these tasks voluntarily, after office hours and on holidays. He also said how those teams successfully broke silos and presented fresh ideas. Here are the key points of the PM’s speech at Vigyan Bhawan:

1. Only being an administrator and controller is not enough. Everybody, at every level, has to be an agent of change.

2. What you (civil servants) are doing is not a job, it is a service.

3. Initiatives have succeeded when 'Jan Bhagidari' is embraced. Engaging with civil society is very important.

4. Let us create an atmosphere where everyone can contribute. The energy of 125 crore Indians will take the nation ahead.

5. It is important to create trust among people, in all districts of the nation. We should work to overcome all obstacles.

6. Do build teams. The mantra of “Reform to Transform” should be interpreted as “Reform to Perform to Transform.” If civil servants perform, the transformation on the ground would be evident. 

7. Be bold enough to experiment and look at new ways of achieving objectives in the interest of the people. 

A day earlier, union ministers Suresh Prabhu and Jitendra Singh inaugurated the two-day-long 10th Civil Services Day function at Vigyan Bhawan. 

Railway minister Prabhu who was the chief guest of the function made three key points: 

1. There is a need to devise a system of rewarding and incentivizing good performers and at the same time inspiring others to perform better through motivation and training. 

2. It is necessary to harness this huge human capital of civil servants but it needs to be constantly updated and upgraded to keep pace with the changing times with a view to deliver the best possible results. 

3. It is important to have proper system for ensuring effective delivery.

Meanwhile, there was also a gathering of civil servants in Rashtrapati Bhavan on Wednesday where President Pranab Mukherjee attended a reception organised on the occasion on Civil Services Day. 

The Civil Services Day function this time is spread over two days, and it includes eight sessions being attended by more than 1,200 civil servants representing various states. For the first time a theme has been dedicated to the Civil Services Day this year. The theme reflects Prime Minister’s vision i.e. “Transforming India”. Also, 10 districts have been selected out of 677 districts for this year’s Prime Minister Awards.