New Delhi: Vice President of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu as Chief Guest and Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh as Guest of Honour Tuesday addressed the 68th Founders’ Day of the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA).
Dr Jitendra Singh also happens to be the National Chairman of IIPA. Calling for plugging loopholes in the delivery system, Vice President, Venkaiah Naidu said the onus is on civil servants to ensure that governance reaches the doorstep of the poorest and most vulnerable segments of our population.
Civil servants must remember the fact that there is no better touchstone of a welfare scheme and development initiative than the prosperity of its beneficiaries through efficient implementation,” he added.
The Vice President underlined that a citizen-centric paradigm of governance hinges on efficient public service delivery systems. Recognising that such a system must be able to adapt itself to the growing needs and aspirations of citizens, he stressed upon inclusiveness, agility, transparency and honesty as key constituents of the complex task of public governance. “Some of the defining features of good governance, therefore, are comprehensiveness, fair play, integrity, efficiency and equity,” he further added.
Emphasising the need for administrators to be more accessible to the needy and underprivileged, Naidu said that civil servants must co-opt citizens from all sections of society down to the last individual, as active partners in scripting India’s growth story.
Highlighting the importance of last mile delivery of public services and key role of administrators, the Vice President praised IIPA for honing the technical and managerial skills of administrators to enhance their leadership and administrative competencies.
Naidu said that civil servants must be open to upgrading their skills, adopting and scaling up best practices within India and outside the country. “Only then can they come up with innovative, out-of-the-box strategies and solutions to complex challenges in governance and administration, for effective implementation of programmes and policies on the ground,” he added.
Quoting IMF growth projections for India, Naidu said that revival of the Indian economy after the impact of the global pandemic, holds forth the promise of the inclusive development of an ‘Atma Nirbhar’ Bharat. India today, the Vice President said, stands poised on the cusp of a transformative era in which every citizen seeks to be an empowered catalyst of socio-economic change. Referring to the government’s various social security programs, he wanted public administration to be more citizen-centric, predicated on the principles of justice, morality and fair play.
Describing Dr Rajendra Prasad as an iconic leader, Naidu said that he devoted his life to see a prosperous, unified and strong India. “Babu Rajendra Prasad’s remarkable journey from a student activist to Independent India’s first President, is a great saga of his indomitable capacity, resolution and commitment towards the country and society,” he added.
He said that IIPA, through a wide spectrum of training, research and consultancy activities for administrators, is seeking to create an environment for efficient, effective and ethical governance, thus fulfilling the vision of Dr. Rajendra Prasad.
Dr Jitendra Singh, in his address, said that IIPA has come a long way in the last 67 years of its existence as from being a retired officers’ club, it is now transformed into a vibrant and dynamic Institution in the field of Capacity Building.
The Minister said, IIPA is doing very well and moving steadily in its mission of digital courses and training programme and informed that in 2021-22, IIPA conducted 69 digital training programmes, 27 offline training programmes and more than 30 research studies.
Dr Jitendra Singh said that IIPA is a knowledge partner of DARPG and DoPT in the preparation of Vision @2047 document and providing valuable inputs to these ministries. He said, IIPA is also working in close association with Capacity Building Commission (CBC) and has already prepared digital modules for the iGOT platform. IIPA has taken a remarkable initiative of helping the civil services aspirants for preparation of Civil Services exam and has been working towards providing them with proper guidance under its Pragati Ki Pathsala programme, he added.
Dr Jitendra Singh in his concluding remarks said that this Memorial Lecture on the 68th Founders’ Day of IIPA is indeed a very good initiative by the IIPA family and a befitting tribute to the most important founding father of the Institute, Dr. Rajendra Prasad.
On this occasion, the Vice President Naidu, along with Dr Jitendra Singh, also released a book titled “Sardar Patel – Builder of Aspirational India” published by IIPA. The event was attended by the former Governor of Chhattisgarh & Member of IIPA, Shekhar Dutt, Member Secretary, IIPA, S N Tripathi,Amitabh Ranjan, Registrar faculty members and course participants.
