Fill the system with energy of New India: PM to young IAS Officers

Addressing IAS Officers of the 2015 batch at the Inaugural Session of Assistant Secretaries, the Prime Minister began by asserting that India has not progressed as much as it should have. He said countries that achieved independence after India, and faced greater resource constraints than India, have touched new heights of development.

He said boldness is required to drive change, and added that a fragmented administrative arrangement does not allow the collective capabilities of officers to deliver to the optimum level. He said dynamic change is needed to transform the system.

He said that this three month programme of Assistant Secretaries, is now into its third year, and would have a great impact. He urged the young officers to interact freely with the senior-most officers of the Union Government over the next three months, so that the system could benefit from the combination of their energy and fresh ideas, and the administrative experience of Secretary-level officers.

The Prime Minister asked the young officers to recall their life upto the day of the UPSC result, the challenges they faced; and use the opportunities they will now have, to bring about positive changes in the system, and the lives of the common people.

In his address, the Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C), Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh said the Government has strived to create a work friendly environment. He said during the last three years the parameters of Governance have risen high and now the accountability, transparency, public expectations and media scrutiny are much higher.

Analysing the trends in IAS induction, Jitendra Singh said that the candidates from hitherto sparsely represented States like J&K, Punjab and Haryana have been emerging as toppers and joining the premier civil services. Also, the toppers during the last three years have all been Women while a large number of successful candidates come from the rural, semi-urban and middle class background having education in Government schools such as the Navodaya and Kendriya Vidyalayas.

This, he said, will help the young IAS Officers identify more intimately with the two-third population who are below 40 years of age and help them implement successfully the several welfare schemes initiated by the present Government.

Earlier, the Cabinet Secretary Pradeep Kumar Sinha said the experiment of IAS Officers starting their career with an initial stint of three months as Assistant Secretaries in the Central Government has been extremely useful since its inception three years ago. Shri Sinha said the flagship programme and other priority schemes will be their focus of attention with particular emphasis on states and districts that are lagging behind.

The Secretary (Personnel), Ajay Mittal said during the next three months the Officers will focus on the Government’s priority areas like GST and Cashless Economy in addition to other components of their attachment.

On this occasion, two short films on ‘PARIVARTAN – Foundation of a New India – Three Years of Sustained HR Initiatives’ and an Audio-Visual Presentation on Assistant Secretaries of 2013 & 2014 batches were screened.

Additional Principal Secretary to PM,  PK Mishra and Senior Officers of the Department of Personnel and Training and various Central Ministries were present.