Civil services officers have an opportunity to become the architect of new India: Jitendra Singh

Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Friday said that civil services officers have an opportunity to become the architect of new India.

Addressing the valedictory function of 95th foundation course at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) in Mussoorie, he said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision for good governance is reflected in new initiatives such as Mission Karmayogi and Aarambh for civil services in the country.

"Singh said that officers have an opportunity to become the architect of New India, the foundation of which was laid down by Prime Minister Narendra Modi," according to a statement issued by the personnel ministry.

Noting that out of a total of 428 officer trainees in this foundation course, 136, or roughly 32 per cent, are women, the minister said the trend of women empowerment has gained momentum in the last six-seven years after the assumption of office by Prime Minister Modi.

He also underlined that the presence of a large number (245) of officers from engineering background will go a long way in good governance practices as this government had launched various specialised flagship schemes that need special expertise such as the Ayushman Bharat, Soil Health Card or the promotion of Inland Waterways.

Singh, the Minister of State for Personnel, said that in the last five to six years, a series of new beginnings and innovations were undertaken by the prime minister to provide a new orientation and direction to bureaucracy in India.

He particularly mentioned that a three-month central government stint as Assistant Secretaries for IAS officers in the beginning of their career started couple of years back added tremendously in their capacity building.

Singh recalled that in line with the objectives of the Mission Karmayogi, online pre-foundation course was started with 95th foundation course and he also appreciated the new modules in the foundation course on social inclusion which covered aspects such as gender, children, disability, urban labour force, and experiential activities such as breaking the barriers, power walk and visit to nearby worksites and places where people at margins were staying.

He said that with a vision to make the civil servants capable of leading the transformation and work seamlessly across departments and fields, a common foundation course (CFC), named Aarambh, was started as part of the 94th foundation course in 2019, the statement said.

For the 95th foundation course 428 participants from various services started the foundation course from October 12, it said.

“Because of COVID pandemic, the thematic exercise this year -- 'Aarambh-2020' -- was organised from 14th October to 31st October, 2020, with experts and global thought leaders sharing their knowledge and experience on the theme chosen for this year, ‘Governance in India @100’,” he said.

In his address, LBSNAA Director Sanjeev Chopra said that for conducting the online sessions, the learning management system known as GYAN is used at the academy.

He said that the prime minister's Vocal for Local campaign was well imbibed in the course and new things like co-learning in history projects and in other streams were encouraged.

Chopra said that this batch has the ability and agility to overcome adversities like the novel coronavirus pandemic and wished them all success in their future endeavours.

“Jitendra Singh also distributed the President of India Gold Medal and certificate for the Best Officer Trainee,” it said.

He also laid the foundation stone of a government primary school at Charleville in Mussoorie in Uttarakhand.

A short movie made by the officers was also shown on the occasion.