SAY CHEESE: “Maintain a positive work environment in government”, PM says

A section of additional secretaries and JS

NOT always you see a photo when the Prime Minister is speaking and senior bureaucrats are smiling. Usually, the photos released by the government’s publicity department are of the nature of the PM speaking the audience while the senior bureaucrats would be seen in a very serious mood listening to the PM in rapt attention. But on Saturday, PM had an interaction with 80 additional secretaries and joint secretaries, the third of his proposed five interactions with the government of India's senior bureaucracy. And if this photo released on Saturday and published here is any indication, the most of the bureaucrats were well…

responding to the PM’s humour. They seemed to be happy, and were enjoying the moment. The first of the five such meetings took place on Wednesday last. In this third interaction held on Saturday, the PM highlighted the importance of maintaining a positive work environment in the government in order to make it an "organic entity." He said that as new laws are made, old ones should be reviewed and weeded out if found unnecessary.

The officers too shared their experiences on subjects such as agriculture, drinking water, citizen-centric governance, innovation and teamwork in governance, project implementation, education, manufacturing, internal security, and solar energy, according to a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). 

The Prime Minister also emphasized on the need to create an ecosystem for electronics manufacturing in India so that more medical equipment devices can be manufactured. Highlighting the current positive global environment in favour of India, the Prime Minister asked officers to work with clear objectives towards creating a New India by 2022.

Echoing what he said in the earlier two interactions with senior bureaucrats, PM also asked the officers to focus on the 100 most backward districts of India so that those could be brought up to the national average level, on various development parameters.