SHABD, New Delhi | April 21: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed civil servants on the occasion of the 17th Civil Services Day at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on Monday, urging them to embrace innovation, technology, and empathy to drive inclusive growth and support India’s transformative journey. During the event, the Prime Minister conferred the Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Public Administration, recognizing outstanding contributions in governance. In his keynote address, he emphasized the need for India’s administrative framework to evolve with the country’s growing ambitions.
India must break free from outdated governance models,” PM Modi said, calling for swift reforms to propel India toward its goals in clean energy, space, sports, and economic leadership. He reaffirmed the government’s vision of making India the world’s third-largest economy.
Focusing on this year’s theme, ‘Holistic Development of India’, the Prime Minister said that true development means leaving no one behind—not a single family, village, or citizen. He identified clean water access, quality education, and digital inclusion as core pillars of this inclusive agenda.
PM Modi highlighted that merely launching schemes is not enough. What truly matters, he said, is the impact and reach of these initiatives. He urged civil servants to prioritize tangible outcomes and ensure last-mile delivery of government benefits.
He praised the government’s reforms in governance, particularly citing the success of Aspirational Districts and Blocks. These models, he said, are effectively bridging rural-urban divides and setting examples in citizen-centric administration.
India is not just growing—it is setting global benchmarks in transparency, innovation, and governance,” the Prime Minister said, asserting that India is now leading global platforms and shaping international narratives.
PM Modi declared that India’s governance efficiency is a decade ahead of many other nations, crediting the past 11 years of consistent reforms focused on reducing delays and embracing digital solutions for public service delivery.
He called for a paradigm shift in the mindset of civil servants from regulators to enablers encouraging them to support entrepreneurship and eliminate obstacles that hinder citizen-led initiatives.
In the age of technology, governance is about multiplying possibilities,” PM Modi remarked, advocating for the use of data, digital tools, and smarter policy design to enhance public access and participation.
He also underlined the importance of capacity building through initiatives like Mission Karmayogi, aiming to create a tech-savvy, responsive, and future-ready bureaucracy equipped to meet the demands of a changing India.
Concluding his address, the Prime Minister invoked the ethos of “Nagrik Devo Bhava”, urging civil services to treat every citizen with dignity, empathy, and compassion. He called on them to see themselves as nation-builders in India’s journey towards becoming a developed nation.
