Mussoorie: Ministers will come and go but civil servants should stick to the Constitution and their decisions should stand the test of reason, President Pranab Mukherjee said today.
Delivering his valedictory address at the 89th Foundation Course of civil servants at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration here, Mukherjee today said the ultimate objective of any civil servant is to serve this country as per the provisions of the Constitution which the people of this country have given to themselves. The President said it is the job of the Government to formulate the policies, it is job of civil servant to implement the policies.
“Ministers will come and go. Their existence depends on the whims of the legislatures. Legislatures' existence depends on the limited period of five years or less than that on the vast multitude of voters...,” he said in his address to over 200 young officers who completed their foundation course today.
Mukherjee who has over five decades of experience in public life advised the young officers completing their foundation course today to always be critical and analytical. “Be rational in your approach. Do not indulge in any sorts of obscurities, ideas and whims which do not stand the test of the reason and logic,” he said.
“We have committed Justice for all—political, social, economical; we have committed equality and liberty for all—equality of status and of opportunity. Liberty of faith expression and belief and worship...We have assured individual dignity, the unity and integration of this great country,” he said referring to the Constitution.
Speaking at the academy which is nestled in queen of hills, Mukherjee asked the fresh officers to implement these “solemn assurances” given in the preamble of the Constitution during their service of 30-35 years or more.
Mukherjee said the concept of good governance was not new in India and its basic ingredients could be found in any of the ancient political treaties of India.
“...happiness of King is not real happiness, happiness of his subjects is the real happiness of the Kings. Those who forget this basic fact are not worthy of being the King,” he said quoting Kautilya.
He asked the officers to remember their responsibility in serving the nation in various capacities. Mukherjee said they should be “responsive” to the needs of the public and have “patience” to listen to the woes of people coming to them.
The President also handed out awards to best trainees in the batch of 282 officers.
The President's medal for the best officer of the 89th Foundation Course was received by Dhaval Jain of Indian Administrative Services while Director's Gold Medal and Certificate for highest aggregate marks in written exam was received by Ankur Awadhiya of Indian Forest Service. The total strength of the Officers Trainees was 282 comprising of 200 male and 82 females, out of which there were 178 IAS, 30 IFS, 33 IPS, one IA and AS, six IC and CES, one IDES, 16 IFoS, one IPoS, one IRAS, one IRPS, three IRTS, six IRS and five belonged to RBCS and RBFS of Bhutan. The function was attended by Governor of Uttarakhand Aziz Qureshi, Chief Minister Harish Rawat and Sanjay Kothari, Secretary, DoPT.
Earlier speaking at the function, Kothari said, “our efforts should be to make the lives of a person even in the remotest corner simple, easy and comfortable.” Kothari said a major step taken by the Prime Minister in this direction is start of self-certification. “You play a proactive role in abolishment of affidavit and submission of self-certification by not asking for it when you become SDM,” he said.
The lack of induction training for group C employees, which constitute 85 per cent of the total work force, remains a major challenge with government considering phased induction training for the group to make them citizen centric, the secretary added.
