Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Aug 2: Addressing IAS Officers of 2014 batch at the Inaugural Session of Assistant Secretaries here today, Prime Minister, Narendra Modi advised young IAS officers to remain sensitive to their circumstances and surroundings, in order to be able to effectively connect with the people of India.
Dr Jitendra Singh,Union Minister of State Independent Charge for Northeast & MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Additional Principal Secretary to PM P K Mishra, Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha, Union Secretary Personnel B P Sharma and senior Government Officers were present on the occasion.
Prime Minister said, they had a great opportunity to enhance their skills and learning, far beyond what they had imbibed during their training so far. He urged them to use the next three months, to add value to their own skill-sets, and also attempt to add value to the working of the Departments they had been attached with.
Modi particularly mentioned the use of technology in governance and asked the young officers to work towards technology upgradation in the working of Government.
Prime Minister urged officers not to be overawed by hierarchy and to be frank and fearless in their interaction with senior officers during the next three months of their attachment as Assistant Secretaries to the Union Government. He mentioned that this is a new feature of IAS training begun with the 2013 batch, and it ensures that IAS officers have a stint at the Centre right at beginning of their career – an opportunity that their seniors may not have had.
Dr Jitendra Singh, while speaking on the occasion, said that the practice of giving first posting to new IAS officers at Centre as Assistant Secretaries was started last year and it has proved beneficial, particularly in two ways. Firstly, it helps these budding bureaucrats to find their mentors and anchors at the Centre so that when they go to their respective States of allocation and face an issue there, they will know whom to reach out in New Delhi. Secondly, the other advantage is that if a young bureaucrat, fresh from Mussoorie Academy, goes straight to the State allocated to him and becomes an SDM overnight, he runs the risk of being spoiled by self-seekers and psychophants who surround him.
Over the last two years, Dr Jitendra Singh said, a number of decisions were taken to ensure that every officer is able to perform to the best of his ability. Striking an emotional chord, he said, one such new initiative was the “Anubhav” practice wherein every officer who has completed 30 to 35 years of service, is expected to revisit his first posting of his career and hoped that when this lot of Assistant Secretaries sits to right down their “Anubhav” account, 30 to 35 years ahead from now, they will not forget to mention their first posting in Government of India as Assistant Secretary which was flagged off by none less than the Prime Minister of India.
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