New Delhi: The MoS (PP) Dr Jitendra Singh said that the transition of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh to the UTs will be smooth and the cadre is no issue in this transition. He said that any arrangement or mechanism which evolves will be in the best interest of all the stakeholders. He was addressing at the Annual Conference of Chief Secretaries/Principal Secretaries (Personnel/GAD) of all State/UT Governments, organised by Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Government of India, here today. The Secretary (DoPT), Dr. C. Chandramouli, Secretary (DARPG & Pensions) Shri K. V. Eapen and senior officers of the Centre and UT/State Governments were also present in the conference.
The Annual Conference aimed to deliberate upon the issues relating to personnel management of All India Service officers. The conference was organised to have a greater coordination between the States and the Central Government in the matters related to administration and governance. Various issues related to personnel management, training and other service matters related to All India Services were discussed during the conference.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Jitendra Singh said that the Government under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has taken various initiatives to provide conducive working atmosphere to the officers with an aim to enable them to provide citizen-centric governance that is responsive to the needs and concerns of all stakeholders. He quoted examples of initiatives which included self-attestation, abolition of interviews for recruitment to non-gazetted posts, doing away with the obsolete rules and grievance redressal system, among others. The Minister said that the nature of PM’s Awards for Excellence has been entirely changed in the recent years. Now the civil servants are being rewarded for implementation of flagship programmes of the Government, with a large number of participation by the district collectors.
Dr Jitendra Singh said that Government has zero tolerance towards corruption and non-performance, but at the same time it is committed to provide conducive atmosphere to the honest and sincere officers. He added that the Prevention of Corruption Ac, 1988 has been amended by the Government recently so as to enable that no guilty is spared, while at the same time protecting the honest officers. He further said that the Government has made efforts for an inclusive administration demonstrated by the introduction of reservation of EWS category. He said that youth comprise of 70 percent of country’s population and Government is committed to provide them all avenues of development. He spoke about the Government’s decision to post young IAS officers as Assistant Secretaries in the Central Ministries in order to provide them exposure about the functioning of the Government. This will enable them to implement the flagship schemes at the ground level, he added. There have been many out of box experiments and initiatives by the Government, the Minister said.
Dr Jitendra Singh said that the modern technology has been put to maximum use by the Government. He said that Apps have been developed for Pensioners and filing RTI, etc. He also spoke about initiatives of Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare for the benefit of pensioners e.g. provision of minimum pension, organising Pension Adalats, pre-retirement counselling, among others. He further said that the retired employees are an asset for the nation and a mechanism should be developed to utilise their potential in the best possible manner.
The Minister appealed that the spirit of Modi Government should reach to all states/UTs and they should emulate the best practices adopted by the Centre. He said that such conferences help to provide a platform for deliberations to the States and Centre Government. The Minister added that we are an evolving democracy and mechanisms need to be put in place to ensure that rules are complied with.. He assured full cooperation and coordination from the Centre Government with State Governments and UTs for ensuring speedy and transparent administration to the people of the country.
The DoPT Secretary, Dr C Chandramouli said that this conference has been organized to discuss issues of mutual interest to the Centre and State Governments. He said that both should be benefitted from each other’s experience. The purpose is to discuss and find solutions to issues related to All India Services, he added. The Secretary said that a scientific approach to cadre-management should be adopted for the benefit of all stakeholders.
