Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh today said, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given us the Mantra of "Maximum Governance, Minimum Government" which implies that role of the Government is that of "facilitator" and not "intimidator".

The Minister was delivering inaugural address at the Foundation Training and Interactive Session with 2020 Batch of Assistant Section Officer (Probationers) at Institute of Secretariat Training & Management (ISTM), under DoPT at New Delhi today. Smt. S. Radha Chauhan, Secretary, DoPT along with other senior officials were also present on the occasion.

Dr. Jitendra Singh mentioned that Prime Minister Modi has made things easier for those in Government service as well as the common man by removing hurdles and obstructions, which is driven by the mantra of ‘Maximum Governance, Minimum Government’. He noted that in the last 8 years, almost 2000 laws have been done away with by the Union Government which had become obsolete.

Dr. Jitendra Singh said that Central Secretariat, as the entire universe of Central Ministries and Departments is commonly referred to, as the nerve centre of functioning of the Government of India. He said that the Secretariat’s primary responsibility is to assist and advise the political executive in policy formulation, implementation, review and modification of such policies from time to time.

A large number of young Government servants are coming with scientific and technological background, observed Dr Jitendra Singh, which will help the Government in creating awareness about specialised flagship programs related to drone, space technology, which require technical expertise and having that provides an edge to the younger lot as the entire government today has become technology-driven. He added that this will also help in adapting to the changing roles of CSS – being tech savvy for assessment of citizen’s needs, real time monitoring of schemes/programmes and using cutting edge technology for smart delivery of services.

The Union Minister also lauded the increased number of women joining government and said that the time has come that the women have started taking up leadership roles rather than being mere participants.

Dr. Singh said that the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is leading the National Transformation by building a New India, where the welfare of every citizen is at the heart of national planning and programmes, driven by the idea of Government being citizen-centric. He added that citizen welfare is not only the prime constitutional mandate for the government, but it is also important for ensuring a participative form of the Government.

The Union Minister said that the Nation invests heavily in each one of the Government servants at every level and this is the opportunity for them to build their abilities by carefully focussing on the learning in the institutes as well as while being on the job. He quoted the Prime Minister Shri Modi who has always emphasised that Government Service is a “Seva” and not “Naukri“ or Job, as the satisfaction it gives cannot be measured worldly. He said that in Government sector, the Government servants have the opportunity, mandate as well as the means to serve people through the policies that impact the common man.

Dr. Jitendra Singh said that the Government of India attaches high priority to training needs of every official and, under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, it has also started implementing the National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building or Mission Karmayogi (Prarambh) aimed at creating an opportunity of world class capacity building to all Government officials based on the key principle of “role-based” learning”. He said that the young officers will appreciate that the role based learning empowers them directly to play their role effectively than the earlier practice of training in Rule based programs.

Dr. Singh said that the Secretariat has an important role of looking after several other important functions such as drafting legislations, rules and regulations, Sectoral planning and programme formulation, and exercises Budgetary control. He said that since now they are part of the government machinery, and this machinery requires their inputs and knowledge.

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SNC / RR