1

Speech by Shri V. Narayanasamy, MoS (PP) for the 4

th
UPSC Annual
Foundation Day Lecture on Governance & Public Service on 29
th
Nov.
2013

Respected Shri Pranab Mukherjee, Honble President of India;
Prof. D.P. Agrawal, Chairman, UPSC;
Smt. Rajni Razdan, Honble Member and other Members of UPSC;
Smt. Sanjeevanee Kutty, Addl. Secretary, UPSC;
Distinguished Guests;
Ladies & Gentlemen;


I feel privileged and honoured to extend my warm welcome to Honble
President of India to this function. Honble President has unparallel experience and
eminence in governance and public service, in his long standing public life spanning
several decades. It is, therefore, quite appropriate that Honble President is
delivering lecture today. We are all eager to hear the Honble President on the
subject of Governance and get enlightened.

2. Honble President of India during his visit to Lal Bahadur Shastri National
Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Mussoorie on 18
th
October, 2013 spoke at
length on the need and importance of good governance and public service. I had the
opportunity of listening to the passionate speech of Honble President in Mussoorie.
Honble President, in his speech stressed on the critical need to observe political
neutrality for the government servants and to accord high priority to achieving the
governments objective of inclusiveness which can be accomplished through the
determined implementation of the programmes to promote gender equality,
education, health, rural development, social welfare, etc.

3. Honble President also stated in Mussoorie that the goal of inclusiveness

demands the adoption of a grassroot approach and that would enable true
involvement of the people in formulating and implementing development plans that
will shape their future. Sir, we look forward to your words of wisdom and guidance
in public service.

4. For any Government, ensuring proper and efficient delivery of public services
to the target population is the hallmark of efficiency. And issues of governance play
a major role in this efficient delivery.

5. This essentially boils down to proper human resource management, namely,
recruitment of appropriate personnel in adequate number at appropriate time. Post
recruitment training, training during service career and maintaining discipline
including recognizing good work is also important. In all these important areas, the
contribution of Union Public Service Commission cannot be over emphasized.

6. The Recruitment Rules of Group A & B services are framed and finalized in
consultation with UPSC. To match with the changing time, the amendment of
recruitment rules has also been undertaken in consultation with UPSC efficiently. The
UPSC has been mandated for recruitment of Group A officers through competitive
exams. I am proud to say that they have been doing a wonderful job in effecting
huge recruitment for the Central Government including the premium All India
Service. UPSC enjoys great credibility and trust of the masses and is recognised for
its fair, just and impartial selection process.

7. Another important contribution of UPSC has been in undertaking selection by
promotion. By introducing various innovative measures like the single window
mechanism the time taken for processing of promotion cases has reduced
considerably. This single window system has also reduced the average time taken
for giving advice in many disciplinary cases.

8. UPSCs contribution in bringing about reforms in Civil Services Examination is

also noteworthy. The Government after considering the recommendations of the
UPSC has accepted many important recommendations which have also been notified
and applied to Civil Service Examinations in recent years. I would like to emphasise
here that in terms of course contents, a full paper on ethics and integrity has been
included in the Civil Service (Main) Examination.

9. We are witnessing a lot of activity in our governance system today for
tackling corruption. I am sure introducing this subject at the time of recruitment
through competitive examination would sensitize the new recruits and thereby the
entire Government in mitigating this problem. We have also introduced capsules on
anti-corruption measures in the training for Civil Service officers. We have also
requested the State Governments to include course on anti-corruption during the
training of Government officers. We have initiated action to strengthen our anti-
corruption laws and taken several administrative measures to tackle corruption.

10. When it comes to public service delivery, another important area is in making
the whole process as transparent as possible along with accountability. We have
introduced Right of Citizens for time-bound delivery of Goods and Services and
Redressal of their Grievances Bill, 2011 in the Lok Sabha and the Standing
Committee has given its recommendation. We expect that the Bill will be passed in
the Parliament soon. In todays world, the citizens of our country are very much
knowledgeable and aware of the functioning of the Government, thanks to the RTI
and also the age of internet. A slightest glitch somewhere or the smallest mistake in
the process of service delivery is going to be noticed and voiced very strongly.

11. Hence, the Central Government is promoting higher and higher use of
technology in the routine functioning of the Government. E-governance is one of our
priority and we have started e-office in the Department of Personnel & Training. I
am happy to bring to the attention of Honble President that DOPT had a retreat
recently where senior officers of the Department spent some quality time in
brainstorming. This has thrown up many new ideas for improving the role and
functioning of the Department for increasing the satisfaction of all its stakeholders.

12. I am sure thoughts and ideas expressed by the learned dignitaries in the
lecture series on Governance and Public Service would provide opportunity to
assimilate these new ideals to prepare a road map and create a vision for bringing
about contemporary reforms in various methodologies in bringing Good Governance
and Public Service delivery.

13. Today, we are honoured that the President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee is
gracing this occasion and has spared time from his ever-busy schedule to deliver a
lecture on this subject which is very close to his heart. I am sure that all of us will be
extremely benefitted by the invaluable new ideas, thoughts to be expressed by a
Statesman and multi-faceted personality of his stature having a vast and varied
experience as an able Administrator, Diplomat and Finance wizard.

14. I wish this event a grand success. I also wish the Chairman and Members of
UPSC, other officers and staff every success in their endeavours.

Thank you,

J ai Hind
****