Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today announced the State government would provide financial assistance to civil services aspirants desirous of availing coaching and would also upgrade the civil services training institute at the Punjabi University, Patiala.The deputy chief minister took these decisions during a breakfast interaction with eight IAS officers of the 2014 batch who have been allotted the Punjab cadre. The eight officers have just finished their field training in Punjab and will join duty in the State in a few months.Mr Badal said the Punjab government's decision to give specialised training to children desirous of joining the armed forces was already giving results. "Now we are finalising the modalities to give financial assistance to youngsters who want to avail of specialised training to crack the civil services paper". He said this initiative would allow aspirants to take private coaching from institutions of their choice. Besides this, he said State institutions offering such training including the centre at the Punjabi University at Patiala and MGSIPA in Chandigarh would also be strengthened.
The deputy CM also urged new IAS officers joining the State to adopt a positive outlook and be courteous in their dealings with the people. "The moment you behave courteously with people half the job is done as you make the person visiting you comfortable". He also urged them to help people coming to them with grievances quickly. "You should also inculcate leadership qualities which enable you to take bold decisions for the welfare of the people", he added.The young officers attending the meeting spoke about their experiences while serving as SDMs at various places in the State and said they were eager to take on their new responsibility. Among others present in the meeting included principal secretary to Deputy CM P.S. Aujla, special principal secretary to Deputy CM Rahul Tewari and Manvesh Singh Sidhu besides newly joining IAS officers Ms. Sakshi Sawhney, Ms. Komal Mittal, Ms. Ruhee Dugg, Ms. Preeti Yadav, Ms. Amrit Singh, Mr. Jitendra Jorwal, Mr. Jaspreet Singh and Mr. Himanshu Aggarwal.