Staff Reporter
Amid the row over power politics between the Kejriwal government and the Lieutenant Governor related to the transfer and posting of officers in the city, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena on Friday sent a strong message to officers.
Lieutenant governor asked Officers to work without fear. The L-G urged AGMUT cadre IAS officers attending a workshop on civil servant capacity building for effective service delivery to work hard and honestly without succumbing to pressure.
LG told the officers, “You should work hard and honestly without being pressed; no one can touch you; this protection is from my side. I’ve got your back”.
Lt. Governor observed that it is the need of hour that civil servants reorient themselves as per the aspiration of people and attach themselves with common people, understand their concern and take adequate measure to redress the same honestly, speedily and efficiently. If there arise any need to review any existing law, rules or regulation which have become obsolete or create hurdles in delivery of service, then the same should be reviewed on emergent basis. They should develop positive thinking to act for the welfare of the society at large rather than taking recourse to old rules and procedures for delaying the work.
Lt. Governor further informed that he has completed one year as Lt. Governor and during this short period, things which have been pending for years, have been got executed due to full cooperation extended by the officers. Before his joining, the average recruitment per annum to different posts was 5000 only, whereas the same mow is 17000. Further, the Yamuna Cleaning Project which has been under constant monitoring of Supreme Court and NGT for the last 28 years and 08 years respectively, has seen no progress, but in the last one year alone, the project have made significant progress.
Lt. Governor shared his experience that these work have been executed by these Civil Servants only and I am sure that with positive thinking, the civil servants can deliver the best of their services for the citizen of Delhi.
In the last, Lt. Governor, urged that the officers shall work as per the rules in a free, fair and just manner, and always keep the citizen centric attitude, as servant of the Civil Society and note as an Authority.
The Services Department, GNCTD organized a workshop on Capacity Building of Civil Servants for effective public services in Vigyan Bhawan on 26.05.2023 as a part of “Mission Karmayogi – National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building”, which has been envisioned by the Central Government and is designed to enhance the civil services under a National Programme. It is pertinent to mention here that “Mission Karmayogi” is anchored by an apex body headed by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. The programme conceptualises the vision of ‘maximum governance, minimum government‘, conceived by Prime Minister, where the core principle is a transparent, participatory and citizen friendly governance with minimum bureaucratic interference.
A. K. Singh, IAS, Principal Secretary (Services) delivered the welcome speech and informed the participating officers that the main purpose of organizing workshop is to provide participating officers a platform for collective learning, sharing experiences and understanding the elements of a friendly citizen centric public delivery system.
In the first half of the workshop, five sessions on the key elements of public delivery system viz. “Good Governance”, “Inclusivity & Outreach of Citizen Centric Services”, “Maximum Governance Minimum Government”, “First and Last Mile Connectivity in Public Transport” and “Training & Monitoring” were conducted. ACS/Pr. Secretaries who deliberated on these topics during the 5 sessions outlined the importance of these elements in establishment of a robust citizen centric delivery system for improving the quality of life of the citizens of Delhi. The participants also deliberated upon the challenges that may come in way of establishing such a system in Delhi along with the steps for removing the same.
Civil Servants need to adapt to latest available technology
In the second half of the workshop, Chief Secretary, Delhi addressed the participating officers and informed that capabilities of our civil servants can be compared to any civil services in the world and they had delivered in the past their best even without much use of technology, but with the time changing and considering the increase in population, Civil Servants need to adapt to latest available technology. This is also important keeping in view the aspiration of public, which demands speedy, simple, efficient and transparent system of delivery of goods and services. Chief Secretary informed the audience as to how adaptation of latest technology has revolutionized the public delivery system like railway reservation system, issuance of passport and epic cards etc. A lot is still required to be done on the part of civil servants in Delhi so as to make Delhi a showcase for the whole Country and the World.
This workshop has accordingly been organized to enhance Capacity Building of Civil Servants on the directions of Lt. Governor, Delhi to deliberate upon the concept of good governance, which inter-alia includes the use of technology and review of rules and regulations etc. so that a robust public delivery system can be created for delivery of services to the citizens of Delhi in a smooth, efficient and transparent manner.
The Chief Secretary also added that recently the Central Government has promulgated the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Ordinance, 2023 on 19.05.2023, vide which a National Capital Civil Service Authority has been established, which is inter-alia responsible to make recommendations for capacity building of civil servants and other employees serving in the affairs of GNCTD. The Chief Secretary urged the officers to work without succumbing to pressure of any kind in an impartial, and transparent manner as per the relevant rules and regulations, which are clearly spelt out.