Civil Services Day
Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Apr 20 : 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, Dr Jitendra Singh said here today that focus should be on the capacity building of officers still having 25 years of service. These officers are the ones who have the opportunity to devote the next 25 years with full energy and capability to the making of India at 2047, he said.
Addressing the inaugural session of 16th Civil Services Day at Vigyan Bhawan here, Dr Jitendra Singh said that the officers who are in the age group of 30s should be our main focus for capacity building as they have another 25 years to put in before India celebrates its 100 years of independence and they are the ones blessed with the privilege to be the architects of India at 2047. Our responsibility today is to contribute to the capacity building of this group of officers, he said. If we are able to do that effectively, we will be doing justice to India at 2047, he added.
Dr Jitendra Singh said that the 16th Civil Services Day events commencing today reflect the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi outlined by him from the ramparts of Red Fort in his Independence Day address when he gave a clarion call as the nation stepped into “Amrit Kaal”.
The theme for the 2-day Civil Services Day 2023 is titled “Viksit Bharat: Empowering Citizens and Reaching the Last Mile”. The saturation approach envisaged in implementation of Priority Programs in the Amrit Kaal period can only be achieved when the Nation’s civil service pursues this objective with a seriousness of purpose, steely determination and a deep sense of commitment to the national cause, said the Minister.
Dr Jitendra Singh said that soon after this government came to power, the Prime Minister gave us the mantra ‘Maximum Governance, Minimum Government’. In a simple sentence, it means a Government which is a facilitator not an intimidator. When we talk of a government like this it means increased transparency, increased accountability and most of all increased citizen participation, he added.
The Minister said that citizen participation has already happened and one of the most striking examples of it is the SVAMITVA scheme. It is a reformative step towards establishment of clear ownership of property in rural inhabited (Abadi) areas, by mapping of land parcels using drone technology and providing ‘Record of Rights’ to village household owners with issuance of legal ownership cards (Property cards/Title deeds) to the property owners. Another hallmark is the grievance redressal.
One of the benchmarks of transparency, accountability is the grievance, said Dr Jitendra Singh. When we introduced CPGRAMS, in 2014 we just had about 2 lakh grievances being filed across the country every year, today we have about 20 lakhs, 10 times more. This is the result of increased trust of people in grievance redressal. We were prompt, worked very hard, we ensured 95-100% disposal every week. Now we have institutionalised a mechanism wherein after the redressal of complaint, one of our officers calls up the complainant to find out the level of satisfaction, he added.
Dr Jitendra Singh said that similarly Mission Karmayogi is also a pathbreaking reform because if you want to have last mile delivery, you have to be competent for that. So Mission Karmayogi is one of the novel experiments whereby any officer taking up new assignment, would be able to build inherent capacity inside him/her for the new assignment. Overnight you can prepare for the next assignment. We have used technology and transparency to bring out the efficiency of the officer. The credit goes entirely to Prime Minister Modi, he said.
The Minister said that the Aspirational district was another experiment of similar nature where the government decided the indices on a scientific basis. We have a dashboard which is updated real time and there is constant competition happening and it’s absolutely objective. Also good governance indices upto the district level already initiated for J&K, Uttar Pradesh so that they also have the same scientific parameter to access themselves within themselves also vis-à-vis others. Assistant Secretaries stint for 3 months introduced for the first time before you go to the respective cadre, you have an opportunity to know the priority of central govt and to cultivate mentors. Most of these reforms brought in by Prime Minister Modi is also initiating a new form of political culture, he said.
Talking about digital transformation, the Minister said that e-Office version 7.0 has been adopted in all 75 Ministries/ Departments of Central Secretariat by end February 2023. This is a commendable achievement that 89.6 percent of all files are processed as e-files in the Central Secretariat.
The Minister said that the Prime Minister Modi would be addressing the nation on Civil Services Day, April 21 2023 and conferring the Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Public Administration. The Prime Minister has devoted considerable time and energy to personally restructure the scheme to ensure that high meritocracy is rewarded, evaluation processes are robust and participation is inclusive. 15 Awardees from 2520 nominations would be receiving the awards tomorrow. He congratulated all the awardees. The Minister also said that he is pleased to note that the overall efforts and nominations received are commendable, with 97% of districts registering for the PM Awards for Excellence in 2022.
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