Principal Secretary to Prime Minister, Dr. P.K. Mishra, addressed the Plenary Session of UPSC’s Shatabdi Sammelan Programme in New Delhi today. Speaking on the occasion, he said that over the past 100 years, UPSC has upheld merit, fairness, excellence, and integrity, maintaining dignity and credibility as one of the country’s most respected Constitutional bodies. Dr. P. K. Mishra emphasized that this occasion is a tribute to the sagacity of the Constitution’s founding fathers and the visionaries who guided the Commission through its formative years. He highlighted the contributions of successive Chairpersons, Members, officers, and staff who ensured adherence to fairness and merit despite challenges.

Generations of civil servants, drawn from India’s diversity, have carried forward ideals of public duty, impartiality, and service to the nation, building institutions, preserving stability, implementing reforms, and upholding constitutional morality, often without recognition.

Tracing its history, Dr. Mishra remarked that the precursor to UPSC was the Public Service Commission established in 1926, later recognized under the Government of India Act, 1935, as the Federal Public Service Commission, before being renamed UPSC after independence. He underscored that conducting examinations for the Civil Services, India’s “steel frame,” remains its most critical function.

Over decades, UPSC’s examination system has evolved with modern governance while retaining fairness, merit, and equity. Beyond recruitment, UPSC performs vital advisory roles in promotions, deputations, and disciplinary proceedings.

Dr. Mishra highlighted the recent Pratibha Setu portal, which securely connects talented candidates who reached the final exam stage with potential employers, linked to the National Career Service, thereby opening new opportunities for youth to contribute to national development.

Dr. Mishra remarked that the role of civil services has been evolving over the years. He highlighted that before independence, and immediately thereafter, administration was mostly limited to maintaining law and order and collecting revenue. He emphasized that in the initial decades after independence, the role focused on building the foundation of development planning, institutions, industrial capacity, and basic services. He underlined that the emergence of technology, urbanization, climate challenges, and frequent disasters has reshaped the responsibilities of civil servants, and today’s governance demands collaboration more than hierarchy. He remarked that over the last decade, there has been a radically different transition.

Dr. Mishra highlighted that expectations have shifted from process compliance to outcome delivery, from incremental improvement to accelerated transformation, from siloed government departments to interoperable digital infrastructure, and from a State that delivers to citizens to a State that partners with citizens through Jan Bhagidari. He underscored that this shift is visible across sectors such as digital payments, social protection, health, infrastructure, logistics, skilling, taxation, urban governance, and rural development, and is now extending into frontier areas where India seeks global leadership, including quantum technologies, space innovation, and the blue and green economies.

Dr. Mishra emphasized that India stands at an inflection point in its journey towards Viksit Bharat 2047. He highlighted four aspects.

First, the world is becoming more interconnected and volatile, with strategic competition spanning technology, supply chains, data, cyber security, artificial intelligence, space, and critical minerals. He remarked that civil servants are managers of uncertainty, interpreters of complexity, and guardians of India’s strategic interests, and their readiness must begin with how they are selected.

Second, he underscored that the pace of technological change has outstripped regulatory adaptation. Breakthroughs in AI, synthetic biology, robotics, and quantum computing demand intellectual agility, ethical grounding, and the ability to engage with innovators and scientists as equals.

Third, he highlighted that India’s development trajectory is shifting from input‑driven growth to capability‑driven growth. He remarked that success must be measured by outcomes, accountability, experimentation, and actual change on the ground. He emphasized that UPSC must select individuals with judgment, flexibility, and lifelong learning capacity.

Fourth, he underlined the emerging global competition for talent. He remarked that India’s civil services must remain magnets for the best minds. He highlighted that aspirational youth, globally exposed and ambitious, seek purpose, autonomy, challenge, and impact, and civil services must communicate these qualities more actively and clearly.

Dr. Mishra emphasized that the decades leading to Viksit Bharat must be guided by three principles: repurposing civil services for a developmental, service‑oriented state; reimagining selection to identify deeply capable individuals; and building a lifelong learning state.

Dr. Mishra highlighted that Mission Karmayogi is integral, introducing a systematic, technology‑enabled, competency‑driven approach to capacity building. He underscored that this transition shifts from rule‑based to role‑based frameworks, from uniform training to continuous learning, and from siloed functioning to collaboration. He remarked that the iGOT‑Karmayogi platform, with 3000+ courses and global best practices, anchors this evolution, creating a workforce that learns while serving.

In his concluding remarks, Dr. Mishra emphasized that civil services stand at the heart of India’s journey towards Viksit Bharat. He highlighted that officers must think across domains, operate across sectors, and anchor their work in humility, integrity, and purpose. He remarked that they must engage with data as confidently as with people, balance ethical judgment with administrative competence, and remain continuous learners even as they lead.

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MJPS/SR