The Vice-President of India, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar today addressed the Indian Defence Accounts Service (IDAS) probationers of the 2022 and 2023 batches in New Delhi, saying, “"I strongly advocate that there must be meticulous, scrupulous adherence to fiscal prudence, frugality but this should not come at the cost or compromising efficiency and efficiency lies in the fiscal utilisation of resources.
Financial integrity is absolute essence; it is your nectar. Financial integrity once compromised you lose it forever; you can never repair and therefore, develop a mechanism in life of happiness and satisfaction that do not measure yourself comparing those who are in private sector. You are an ancient guardian of economic discipline."
Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar further said, "Being in service of Bharat, home to one-sixth of humanity, is a blessing. You may have, on account of your credentials, the occasion to serve in several other areas, and maybe perhaps with larger fiscal gain, but you shall never have the satisfaction that you will have now.
Satisfaction to live up to our civilizational ethos of service, satisfaction to nurture our nationalism, satisfaction to serve our motherland, and satisfaction to serve in conditions that is envy of everyone."
Addressing the need for respect and care for veterans, Shri Dhankhar stated, "For example, it is historical fact established, the morale of the armed forces is determined by the care we have for our veterans.
If veterans are in good morale, those who serve on the frontiers or otherwise look up. And you have a deep connect with the veterans, pensioners. You will have to have absolute empathy for pensioners.
Never ever create a problem in disbursement of the pension. I am so happy and delighted and I came to know about it that technological upgradation has resulted in seamless delivery with expedition.
But still, there will be issues and issues are bound to be there. We will never have a system where there will be no issues interdepartmental or with pensioners. Have empathy." He further urged officials to treat pensioners with respect and devotion, remarking, "Act with them with a sense of devotion.
All of them are like parents for you, senior citizens, our veterans. Hand-holding them, if they physically interface with you, will go a long way. Not only they will bless you, by word of mouth, a message will permeate all throughout.
They are not the people who are retired. They are pensioners. They will never be tired of serving the nation in whatever form they are. This blessed, distinguished, premium category of human resource you will be interacting with."
Speaking on financial discipline, the Vice-President cautioned against shortcuts and urged adherence to integrity. "There will always be challenges, but I can assure you lawful route of integrity is the safest route.
Shortcuts are very tempting; sometimes, they are too tempting to be resisted but when challenges come, a shortcut, rather than being the shortest distance between two points, turns out to be the longest, intractable with headwinds and air pockets.
Sometimes, negotiating is never-ending." Reflecting on the global security scenario, the Vice-President stressed that preparedness is paramount, given the challenges in the region and ongoing global conflicts.
"Given the security clime in our neighborhood, given the challenges we have, and given the challenges that we are living in times where conflagration in any part of the globe Ukraine-Russia, Israel-Hamas we were impeccable, and therefore, the level of preparation now has become much beyond what you may be having in your mind.
The good thing is that our nation is getting prepared." He further emphasized the importance of security from a position of strength, stating, "Security of any nation is fundamental. It is said security is best assured from a position of strength.
And position of strength is secured by level of preparation. And preparation these days, you have to be ahead of times. You have to think of next-gen equipment in every field. And now the situation is so dramatically changed that conventional warfare has taken back seat."
Highlighting the responsibilities of public servants, the Vice-President urged them to put the nation first. "While I would say always keep the nation first, have unwavering commitment to the nation, but this cannot be just an idea.
While it is your ordainment by virtue of being public servants to ensure fiscal discipline, enabling operational efficiency, you also have to look around what as individuals you can do." The Vice-President also stressed the need for strengthening family ties, promoting indigenous knowledge, and fostering inclusivity.
"One, strengthening of family ties, family values. Be connected with family. Make it a priority. Believe in environmental awareness and sustainable living. As individuals, you can contribute for it. Embrace indigenous knowledge, economic self-alliance.
Be Vocal for Local. I'll tell you, avoidable imports in this country are a huge drain on finance, to the extent of billions of dollars. And these avoidable imports are in the shape of shoes, socks, trousers, coat, shirts, carpets, furniture, toys, candles, what not.
Second aspect is that when we engage into use of avoidable foreign items imported in the country, we are depriving our people of work. This small gesture you can do." He concluded by emphasizing national unity and resilience, saying, "Foster unity and inclusivity amidst mass diversity.
For 5,000 years we have had inclusivity, but the challenge to inclusivity was extreme. Murderers came, invaders came. They ravaged our culture, our religious places. We stood our ground. But time has come now to keep nation's interest always first, fostering unity, fostering brotherhood."
Shri Rajesh Kumar Singh, IAS, Defence Secretary, Smt. Devika Raghuvanshi, IDAS, Controller General of Defence Accounts (CGDA), Dr. Vandana Kumar, Additional Secretary, Rajya Sabha Secretariat and other dignitaries were also present on the occasion.