By Amar Krishna Paul
The Government of India has fixed “April 21” as National Civil Service Day. On this day, India’s first Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel addressed the newly appointed Administrative Services Officers in 1947. The historic occasion took place at the Metcalf House in Delhi. Patel referred to civil servants as the “steel frame of India” in his inspiring speech. This is, indeed, an occasion for the civil servants to rededicate themselves to the cause of citizens and renew their commitment to public service and excellence in work. The first such function was held in Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi on April 21, 2006.
Satyendranath Tagore, Rabindranath Tagore’s elder brother, was the first Indian to qualify the Civil Services Examination in 1864. In 1862, Satyendranath Tagore travelled from India to England to study for the exam. In 1863, he was chosen for the civil service, and after finishing his education in England, he returned to India in 1864.
On this day civil servants that have been found to perform their duties with exemplary passion and integrity are awarded so as to inspire others also to discharge their duties with dedication. Awards and honours inspire professionals like civil servants. If a civil servant gets due recognition from competent authority for specific work in the form of award and honour during his/her lifetime then it may be counted as the highest reward for the person. Bureaucrats are being awarded or honoured along in all states of India by different organisations serving at the national and State level from time to time. This can be better understood with a few examples.
Of late, the Special Commissioner of Delhi Police, Robin Hibu’s NGO ‘Helping Hands’ has bagged the National CSR Award 2021 at the 9th National CSR Conference at India International Centre in Delhi. The selfless social work done by the members and volunteers of the Organisation have been recognised by people across the nation. The Organisation has won several other prestigious awards in the past too. Robin Hibu, who happened to be the first IPS officer from Arunachal Pradesh in the national capital, has acknowledged the unflinching support of organisers of the Annual CSR Conference.
Accordingly, the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti and Jal Jeevan Mission, Government of India, on March 30, 2022 conferred the prestigious Jal Prahari Samman (2022) on Smt. Varnali Deka, DC, Kokrajhar, for working on water conservation. Deka was also presented with the national best electoral practice award while she was the DC of Goalpara, Assam. Importantly, the Central Government has instituted a scheme in 2006 namely, “The Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Public Administration”. It has been kick-started to acknowledge, recognise and reward the extraordinary and innovative work done by districts or organizations of the Central and State governments. The scheme was restructured in 2014 for recognising the performance of district collectors in priority programmes, innovations and aspirational districts. The scheme was restructured again in 2020 to recognise the performance of district collectors towards economic development of different districts. Again, it was revamped with a new approach in 2021 with the objective to encourage “Constructive Competition, Innovation, Replication and Institutionalisation of Best Practices”. Under this approach emphasis would be on good governance, qualitative achievement and last mile connectivity, rather than only on achievement of quantitative targets. With this in focus the applications for awards would be evaluated on three parameters; Good Governance, Qualitative and Quantitative.
Many schemes are now being implemented in ‘Mission Mode’. They are characterised by convergence of efforts of community, government and others. Integration of multiple programmes of multiple ministries or departments and the States are to achieve desired outcomes. Therefore, the new approach would be towards assessing performance in a scheme holistically and driven by good governance practices steered by technology.
Award categories include the following —
a) Scheme for Promoting “Jan Bhagidari” or People’s Participation in Poshan Abhiyan;
b) Scheme for Promoting Excellence in Sports and Wellness through Khelo India Initiative;
c) Scheme for Digital Payments and Good Governance in PM Sva Nidhi Yojana;
d) Scheme for Holistic Development through “One District One Product” Initiative; and
e) Scheme for Seamless End to End Delivery of Service without Human Intervention;
In addition to the above, there are as many as eight awards in ‘innovation category’. Two awards each for Central level and State level initiatives while four awards are being given to district level initiatives respectively for its demonstration of innovation, which is sustainable and can be replicated.
In early January this year, the Central Government revised the prize money for PM’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration. It was doubled from Rs10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh in 2021. The PM Awards for Excellence in Public Administration 2021-22 consists of a (i) trophy, (ii) scroll and (iii) an incentive of Rs. 20 lakh to the awarded district or organization to be utilised for implementation of project or programme or bridging resource gaps in any area of public welfare.
Frankly speaking, India’s governance model has become a ‘mass movement’ with people responding to the Prime Minister’s call for ‘people’s participation’ in major schemes. Civil servants must become enablers and facilitators to bring about “Ease of Life” for the common man. The way forward: India is a vibrant democracy, a gifted technological power and an emerging global player. The competence of its civil service systems and the robustness of its institutions will be important factors in determining India’s future.
Civil servants may think about their good health and enquire about the health of common people, whether they have been exercising, controlling their weight and getting their medical check-ups done regularly. They may emphasise on this because physical fitness is not just about their impressive appearance in decent clothes, but their official work demands it.
To conclude, I would say that civil servants are the torchbearers of the subcontinent. They are considered as good examples in society. Honest and sincere bureaucrats are serving the nation and the global community and leading from the front to build India into a Vishwa Guru by 2047 when the nation will be celebrating 100 years of Independence.
(The writer is Principal, Creative Academy, GS Road, Lachit Nagar, Guwahati)