New Delhi: The Vice President of India, Shri M Venkaiah Naidu said that people have to be made equal partners in the development process for any democracy to be successful.
Interacting with the officers of 2017 batch of Indian Administrative Services in New Delhi today, Shri Naidu called for streamlining service delivery by providing people-centric, transparent and effective governance at all levels. He also stressed upon the need to eliminate unnecessary rules and regulations and to simplify processes.
He asked the officers to interact with people on a regular basis and to be receptive to their problems. Urging officers to spend a lion’s share of their time in the field, the Vice President said that real education comes from the field.
Shri Naidu asked Civil Services Officers to take lead in translating “Swarajya” to “Surajya” by providing a corruption-free, citizen-centric and business-friendly governance and ensure that fruits of development reach each citizen to cause a perceptible improvement in the quality of life.
Observing that the Government of India, under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi had initiated several path-breaking administrative and governance reforms, the Vice President advised bureaucrats to ensure that legislative intent was translated into effective implementation.
He asked them to make full use of information technology to reach out to the intended beneficiaries and see to it that schemes and programmes of the government reach the common man without any hassle.
Describing civil services officers as the steel frame that bridges the social, cultural, linguistic, religious and economic differences in the country, Shri Naidu said that it was the brainchild of Shri Sardar Patel who foresaw the importance of a competent higher civil service.
Quoting Sardar Patel he said: “You will not have a united India if you do not have a good All-India Service which has the independence to speak out its mind.”
The Vice President asked officers to adopt a more empathetic, responsive and inclusive approach and urged them to take the effort to understand the problems faced by the common man.
He also asked them to make transparency and accountability their guiding principles at all times to serve all sections in society without any discrimination in the spirit of the principle “Sab ka Saath, Sab ka Vikaas and Sab Ka Vishwas ”.
Stating that an inclusive and rapid economic development would solve a number of the problems faced by the nation, the Vice President said that it was necessary to ensure that terrorism, communal-violence, insurgency and Maoist extremism do not derail the processes of social and economic development of our country.
Observing that improving the lives of farmers, and those living in rural areas must become the priority, he wanted officers to ensure that the rural population had a say in all aspects of governance.
He asked officers to seek people’s participation in movements such as Swachh Bharat, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Fit India and others and convert them into people’s movements. He also asked them to place special focus on Agriculture and rural areas and to develop a pronounced bias towards them while designing policies.
Dr. C. Chandramouli, Secretary, DoPT, Shri K. Srinivas, Addl. Secretary, DoPT and others were present at the occasion.
