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Bureaucrats must check the usage of taxpayers’ money by politicians: PM Modi
The Prime Minister was speaking at the valedictory session of the 16th Civil Services Day at Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi.
Bureaucrats have to analyse whether a political party is utilising taxpayers’ money for its own benefit or national progress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday, adding that India’s rapid development would not have been possible without the active participation of civil servants and that expectations of the global community from India rose phenomenally during the last nine years.
The Prime Minister was speaking at the valedictory session of the 16th Civil Services Day at Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi. He also told bureaucrats that the best government programmes will not have the expected impact in the absence of last-mile delivery.
“In the last nine years, if even the poorest of the poor of the country has got the confidence of good governance, then your hard work has also been there in this. If India’s development has gained new momentum in the last nine years, it was also not possible without your active participation. Despite the Covid crisis, today India is the fifth largest economy in the world,” Modi said.
“The government is working with a vision to serve everyone by efficiently using their time and resources. Our mantra continues to be the nation first, citizen first,” he added.
“Today’s challenge is not about efficiency but in figuring out how to find and remove deficiencies”, Modi said. He recalled the time when, under the garb of deficiency, small aspects would be controlled. Today, he continued, the same deficiency was being turned into efficiency and removing obstacles in the system. “Earlier, the thinking was that the government will do everything, now the thinking is that the government will work for everyone”, said the PM.
Civil Services Day is observed on April 21 every year to acknowledge the work of all officers engaged in different public service departments in the country.
The Prime Minister said that this year’s Civil Services Day is very important as it is a time when the country has completed 75 years of Independence. He said it is a time when the country has started taking rapid steps to achieve the gigantic goals of the next 25 years.
“You have the chance to serve the country in this Amrit Kaal. Though we have less time, we will utilise it to the full extent and work with immense dedication. We have difficult targets but great courage. We have a goal to climb the mountains, but we will even transcend the skies,” he said.
Global agencies and experts are now saying that India’s time has arrived, he said. “In such a scenario, the Indian bureaucracy does not even have a second to waste. I appeal to every bureaucrat, whether from the state government or the Centre, that the country has trusted you. It has given you a chance. Uphold that trust in your work,” he said.
The Prime Minister urged the bureaucrats to come up with innovative solutions to help reduce red tape and make the government more efficient.
“There were over 40 million fake gas connections, over 40 million fake ration cards, 10 million fake children and women receiving benefits from the government. This is the legacy of the earlier government,” he alleged.
He also referred to the key role political parties play in a democracy and said each has its own ideology.
“But as civil servants, you need to be answerable to a set of ethics. You have to decide to work in the interest of the nation, not of yourself. You have to see whether a political party is using taxpayers’ money to build a vote bank or to educate the country. Is it utilising the funds to further corruption or curtail it? These are the questions you need to ask yourself.”
The Prime Minister said that his government has freed bureaucracy from the shackles of hierarchy. “I meet officers from all levels and we conduct brainstorming sessions to help them come up with new ideas… good governance gives better results and is the route to helping to achieve even greater heights,” he said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre has changed deficiencies into efficiencies which is helping overcome several roadblocks, Modi said. “The challenge is not how efficient you are, but to identify where we are deficient and address that,” he said.
Modi said his government has allowed young Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers to have central deputations, deviating from the earlier model where such officers served at the state level first.
“It is the effort to affect change that will leave behind a legacy that people will always remember. Earlier, the thinking was that the government will do everything, but now the thinking is that the government will work for everyone,” he said.
