New Delhi
Reminding them that the welfare initiatives can be rated truly successful only if their benefits reach those in the lowest strata of society, President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday asked civil servants to try to reach the underprivileged people. She also said civil servants should be fired by their passion to make their area “number one” in terms of human development indices.
“They can open up opportunities for those who are not aware of welfare schemes or development programmes. And they should take pride in transforming the lives of the underprivileged. They should be sensitive to the people they are duty-bound to serve,” the President said.
She said for shaping that India of 2047, the civil servants will have to work with a modern and service-oriented mindset even as she noted that Mission Karmayogi is a major initiative to make them more modern, dynamic and sensitive in their approach.
Addressing a group of 175 Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers of the 2020 batch, Murmu said it was expected from civil servants to reach the last person or the most deprived person in their area of responsibility and improve their living condition.
The 2020-batch IAS officers, currently deputed to various Union ministries and departments as assistant secretaries, called on the President at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here.
Pointing out that “Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam” (the entire world is one large family) is part of the great Indian ethos, and “Bharatamev Kutumbakam” (all India is my family) should be integral to the ethos of civil servants belonging to all-India services.
With tremendous growth in infrastructure, it has become easier to reach remote parts of the country, and civil servants should try to reach the underprivileged people, she said adding civil servants should be guided by their dedication to public service, empathy and compassion towards the weaker sections, and should maintain the highest standards of integrity and conduct, and impartiality and objectivity.
The President said they are expected to be especially mindful and active with respect to constitutional provisions related to Panchayati Raj Institutions, administration and control of Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes, and provisions about administration of tribal areas in the north-east mentioned in the Sixth Schedule.
Murmu further said that as civil servants, they have an important role to play in the emergence of India as a global hub of knowledge, supply-chain, innovation, technology-development and various other fields. Simultaneously, India has to strengthen the leadership position it has taken in the areas of socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable development, she added.
