The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, today addressed Civil Servants on the occasion of Civil Services Day. He said the occasion is one of Appreciation, Evaluation and Introspection. He described the Prime Minister's Award as a step towards motivating civil servants, and congratulated the awardees. He said the awards also indicate the priorities of the Government.He said that the priority programmes such as Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, Deendayal Upadhyay Kaushalya Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, and Digital Payments, for which awards have been given, are important programmes for New India.Speaking on the subject of Aspirational Districts, the Prime Minister said that these 115 districts could become growth engines for their entire States. He stressed on the importance of Jan Bhagidaari, or public participation, in development. He said 2022, the seventy-fifth anniversary of independence, can become an inspiration for working towards achieving the India of the dreams of our freedom fighters.The Prime Minister asserted that all available technology, including space technology, should be used for improving governance. He said it is important for civil servants to keep pace with emerging technologies worldwide.He described civil servants as people with great capability and said that these capabilities can contribute in a big way, for the benefit of the nation.
The Prime Minister also released two books ‘New Pathways’ and ‘Aspirational Districts: Unlocking Potentials’. The first book ‘New Pathways’ is a Coffee Table Book consisting of significant details of 28 successful Innovations and 34 Success Stories relating to implementation of Priority Programmes viz., PMAY-U, PMAY-G, DDUGKY, PMFBY and Promoting Digital Payments in Districts shortlisted for Prime Minister’s Awards, 2018. ‘Aspirational Districts: Unlocking Potentials’ book relates to development of Strategies for transforming Aspirational Districts and the approach towards development of relevant social and other parameters. NITI Ayog is coordinating the initiative for development of Aspirational Districts.During the event, “New India-shaping the future”, a film by DARPG was also screened. The film shows initiatives of the 11 districts/organizations selected for PM Awards this year.Speaking on the occasion, the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space Dr Jitendra Singh said that it is a platform for civil servants to share their best experiences. He said that during the last four years, the entire format of the Civil Services Day has changed and now the work done for implementation of priority programmes is rewarded under PM awards. He said that in the year 2016, only 74 districts had participated for the PM awards and this number has risen significantly to 599 districts in 2017 and to 643 districts this year.
The Minister also said that Prime Minister had given the mantra of ‘minimum government, maximum governance’. The citizens are essential stakeholders of governance, he added. Speaking about the grievance redressal mechanism of the DARPG, he said that now there is CPGRAMS Portal, dashboard and timelines to redress the grievances of the citizens. He added that the grievances have increased significantly from about 2 lakhs in a year in 2014 to about 16 lakhs in a year now. This is due to the fact that the department has been more responsive, sensitive and prompt to the grievances of the citizens. He also spoke about Pensions Portal, Anubhav and Jeevan Pramaan initiatives of the Department of Pensions & Pensioners’ Welfare. The Minister said that DARPG has also started holding regional conferences outside Delhi and has already held such conferences in places like Guwahati, Nagpur, Jaipur and Chandigarh among others.The Cabinet Secretary, Shri P. K. Sinha said that this year four priority programmes have been chosen for PM awards. These include Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, Promoting Digital Payments, Pradhan MantriAwas Yojana – Urban & Rural, and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana. He informed that 103 out of 115 aspirational districts have participated for PM’s awards this year. He assured that the civil servants will work to fulfil the dream of Prime Minister’s ‘New India’.
Later the Prime Minister presented 15 awards to the winners in various categories. Under the priority programme, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, District West Tripura (Tripura) was awarded under NE & Hill States category and Beed (Maharashtra) was awarded under Other States category. Under ‘Promotign Digital Payments’ Programme, Bishnupur (Manipur) was given award under NE & Hill States category, Daman (Daman & Diu) was awarded under Union Territory and Sonipat (Haryana) was awarded under Other States category. The Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh was awarded under NE & Hill States and Neemuch district of Madhya Pradesh given award under Other States category for Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Gramin). For Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban), Puducherry ULB (Puducherry) was awarded under UT category and Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (Telangana) was awarded under Other States category. For Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana, Dhemji (Assam) and Karimnagar (Telangana) were given awards under NE & Hill states and Other states categories respectively. Under awards for Innovation, Disitrcit Administration Banka of Bihar was awarded for initiative Unnayan Banka – Reinventign Education using Technology and Team GST, Department of Revenue (GoI) was awarded for their initiative GST – One Nation, One Tax , One Market. Under innovation (AS/JS & Dir/DS category), Team India represented by Shri Shailendra Singh, AS & Shri Ravinder, JS, DIPP (GoI) was awarded for initiative Ease of Doing Business in India and Shri Yugal Kishore Joshi, Director, Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation (GoI) was presented award for Information, Education & Communication of Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin).Shri Nripendra Misra, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, Dr P. K. Mishra, Additional Principal Secretary to Prime Minister, Shri K .V. Eapen, Secretary, DARPG and other senior officers from various Ministries/departments also attended the event.