Prime Minister Narendra Modi today asked civil servants to work for bringing about a change in the lives of the common people so as to ensure that they do not struggle in their dealings with the government and benefits and services were available to them without hassle.
“Taking the dreams of the common man to a level of resolve is the responsibility of the system. This Sankalp (resolve) should be taken to Siddhi (completion) and that should be the goal for all of us. We should be there to handhold at every stage in this journey of Sapna (dream, to Sankalp (resolve) to Siddhi (completion),” he said.
The PM was speaking on the occasion of the Civil Services Day. He also conferred the Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Public Administration.
Modi observed that given the growing stature and changing profile of India, it was imperative that whatever the civil servants did, it should be done in the global context. “If we don’t follow the activities at the global level, it will be very difficult to ascertain our priorities and focus area. We need to develop our schemes and governance models keeping this perspective in mind,” he added.
The PM emphasised that the country’s systems and models should keep getting updated regularly, saying “we cannot deal with the challenges of today with the systems of last century.”
He said; “Wherever we are in the system, our prime responsibility is the unity and integrity of the country, there cannot be any compromise. Even local decisions should be measured on this touchstone. Every decision of ours should be evaluated on its capacity to provide strength to the country’s unity and integrity. ‘Nation First’ should always inform our decisions.”
The PM recalled that he has been interacting with the civil servants for the last 20-22 years, first, as the Chief Minister and later, as the PM. It has been a mutually learning experience, he said.
Modi underlined the significance of this year’s celebration as it was taking place in the year of ”Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav”. He asked the administrators to call past district administrators in this special year to the district. This would infuse new energy in the district and provide a welcome dynamism in the perspective of district administration informed by the experience of the past.