New Delhi, April 21 (HS): On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed civil servants at Vigyan Bhawan on the occasion of the 17th Civil Services Day and said that India is today setting new standards in governance, transparency, and innovation. On this occasion, the Prime Minister also presented awards for excellence in public administration.

The Prime Minister stated that the world is excited to invest in India, and it is our responsibility to ensure that we do not miss this opportunity. We need to ensure that there is no red tape at the block and district levels; only then can we achieve our goals. The success of the country in the past ten years has strengthened the foundation for a developed India. The quality of governance is determined by how deeply the schemes reach the public and the actual impact they have at the grassroots level. We are witnessing this impact in various districts, from increasing attendance in schools to adopting solar energy; many districts have fulfilled their commitments and received recognition for their efforts.

The Prime Minister described this year's Civil Services Day as special and noted that this year marks the 75th anniversary of the Constitution and the 150th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. He expressed happiness over this year's Civil Services Day theme focusing on ensuring the overall development of India, stating that it is not just a theme but a commitment to the nation. Overall development means that no family, citizen, or village should be left behind. True progress is not about small changes but about large-scale, meaningful impact. Every home should have clean water, and every child should receive quality education.

The Prime Minister, reminiscing about his speech from the Red Fort, said that today's India needs to strengthen the foundation for the coming thousand years. In one sense, the first 25 years of the millennium have already passed. This is the 25th year of the new century as well as the 25th year of the new millennium. The policies we are working on today and the decisions we are making will shape the future for the next thousand years. To fulfill our dream of a developed India, every wheel of the development chariot must work together, and we must work hard to achieve our dream.

The Prime Minister stated that we are living in a rapidly changing world today. Our senior administrative officials and policymakers cannot work on old systems. This is why since 2014, systematic change has been actively promoted. We are transforming ourselves very quickly. India's aspirational society, whether it is the youth, farmers, or women, holds unprecedented dreams and aspirations. To fulfill these aspirations, we need progress at an equally unprecedented pace.

On this occasion, Union Minister of Personnel, Public Grievances, and Pensions Dr. Jitendra Singh stated that Prime Minister Modi had given us the mantra of maximum governance, minimum government immediately after forming the government in 2014. Over the years, we have tried to achieve this through the use of technology.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar