Modi government changed very ethos of governance in India — Union Minister Jitendra Singh

New Delhi, July 6 (PTI) Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Wednesday said that last eight years of the Modi government have changed the very ethos of governance in India.

Chairing the third brainstorming session on Mission Karmayogi here, he said, the three important pillars of capacity building are that of implementation of national priorities, citizen-centricity and how best and fast to adapt to new and emerging technologies.

The National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building (NPCSCB), also known as Mission Karmayogi, is aimed at enhancing governance through civil services capacity building.

Singh, the Minister of State for Personnel, underlined that an ideal public administration must be competitive, efficient, cost effective and accountable to deliver good governance.

He said, in the background of ever-changing demographics, digital penetration as well as growing social and political awareness, there is a need to empower the civil servants to be more dynamic and professional.

Last 8 years of the Modi government have changed the very ethos of governance in India, Singh said.

He expressed hope India will help and augment the civil services framework of 73 odd commonwealth countries, which inherited British civil service as a legacy.

Singh said, the imperative need of shift from “rule” to “role” in governance is essential to meet PM Modi’s goal of new India and live up to its aspirations.

He said, the era of generalists is over and this is far more relevant to administration as we are entering the age of super-specialisation.

Singh said, a civil service fit-for-purpose’ and fit-for-future’ requires a competency driven capacity building approach that focuses on imparting competencies critical to discharge its roles and that is exactly the main goal of Mission Karmayogi.

He said the Capacity Building Commission of India will be publishing an Annual Health of Civil Services Report’ (AHCSR) this year itself, which will take a deeper look at the performance of the Indian civil service and how Mission Karmayogi is impacting capacity building in the civil service.

Singh opined that the concept of good governance’ is not alien to India and is well captured even in the country’s ancient literature.

He said that in our ancient literature, the foundation of good governance is based on Dharma (righteousness).

One who practises Dharma’ immediately distinguishes oneself from the present materialistic repository of values, a statement issued by the Personnel Ministry said.

For a civil servant following the path of Dharma and supporting it with good Karma will lead to administrative excellence, the minister said.

The earliest works on public administration in India have been illustrated in various sacred texts such as Vedas, Buddhist literatures, and Jain canonical works, the statement said.

Singh stated that present governments can use the learning of traditional, historical knowledge and recent administrative reform attempts to further improve governance and achieve the goal of maximum governance and minimum government.

The minister expressed hope that Mission Karmayogi will be a key enabler in continuously augmenting and enhancing delivery, and over the time will be able to support in achieving the goal of USD 5 trillion economy set by the Prime Minister.

He said, the foundations of this mission are rooted in the recognition that a citizen-centric civil service empowered with role right attitude, functional expertise and domain knowledge will result in improved ease of living and ease of doing business.