PM Modi: Think of administrative services as service for poor

Referring to Mahatma Gandhi’s principle that any service should reach the last man standing, Modi urged officers to be “proactive and progressive”.

PM Modi interacting with trainee officers at the Aarambh Conference in Gujarat on Thursday. (ANI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday urged civil service officials not to think of the administrative services as a career, but as a service for the poor. Referring to Mahatma Gandhi’s principle that any service should reach the last man standing, Modi urged officers to be “proactive and progressive”.

He was addressing a gathering of probationary civil services officers who had undergone a joint conference titled ‘Aarambh’ in Gujarat’s Kevadia for over a week. The Prime Minister was visiting Kevadia as part of the Rashtriya Ekta Diwas or National Unity Day celebrations.

With the Statue of Unity — the giant statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel which also features in the logo of ‘Aarambh’, in the backdrop — Modi described the training conference as a “unique, integrated” course that brings together all civil services officers.

“So far, we have seen that some officers train in Mussoorie, some in Hyderabad. This is the first time that you all have gathered in an integrated programme and been exposed to similar experts from the field of economics, administration and other important fields. This is truly the beginning of an integrated programme for the administrative services,” the Prime Minister said.

The video of his speech was put out by the BJP on its social media handle. Modi exhorted the probationary officers not to view the civil services as a career but draw inspiration from the works of Sardar Patel and Mahatma Gandhi to ensure development in their respective areas.

“You must come into this system thinking of it as your service to the people. It is important to ensure that people do not think of you as officers sitting behind closed doors. Interacting with people and hearing them is extremely important. No one expects you to have an instant solution to problems but it is important to step into the field and check up on areas,” he said, quoting the example of Sardar Patel’s transformation of the Ahmedabad Municipality.

He also advised officials to follow Mahatma Gandhi’s principle of ‘antyodaya’.

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“We must remember what Gandhi ji has said, that ‘any benefit given to the society must truly reach the last of the people’. You must always weigh each of your decisions on two parameters — whether it meets the aspirations and hopes of those people on the last rungs of society, and whether it meets the principles of unity and the sovereignty of the country. Your signatures can make a lot of difference on paper,” he said.

Emphasising on the need to reach out to people, Modi also laid importance on clearing the image of the bureaucracy as being “unapproachable”.

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