By Gods grace, each one of us selected in CSE 2011 now have an unique opportunity to contribute to our nation’s progress. We are a mixed economy. Private sector co-exists with the public sector. And for the management of this mixed economy we need a strong, purposeful visionary Government. We cannot wish away the role of the Government in public life of our country and therefore what type of development we will have would very much depend upon the quality of public administration in our country. We have the unique opportunity to make India strong, prosperous and a country which will be lauded all over the world in terms of its achievements, in terms of its commitment to the eradication of poverty, ignorance and disease which still afflicts millions and millions of our people.;
Our primary task is to get rid of this mass poverty and we have made considerable progress since independence but much more needs to be done. And in making this happen, the role of public administration is of critical importance. First and foremost any civilized country requires a public administration which is able to enforce law and order and provide a feeling among people that we have a just and caring administration. There can be no development without the maintenance of law and order and the maintenance of law and order in a country as vast as ours, as complex as ours would require special skills.;
What we do and what we do not do has implication of the development over a billion people that live in our country and we have to play the leading role in strengthening the unity and integrity of our country, in ensuring that all classes and all groups of our people live in peace and amity. Therefore for this reason it is very essential to pay particular attention to the needs of the under privileged sections of our society. It was the dream of the Father of our Nation Mahatma Gandhi to wipe the tears from the eyes of each and every suffering Indian. That ambition may be too much to ask for but our task will never be complete unless we get rid of mass poverty.;
It is equally important that there should be emphasis on character, on probity in public life. We cannot allow corruption in public services. And if we really look upon ourselves as the servers of the people of India, we must never forget that India is still a country where millions and millions of people go hungry, they are under fed, many of our children are under nourished. And when in public life politicians or public servants depart from the code of conduct which lays emphasis on maximum possible integrity in personal action and behaviour, then we are hurting those very people who are part of the suffering humanity of our country.Our duty must be to provide protection, succor to the most backward parts of the community and have a special responsibility to ensure that these tribal communities do succeed in joining the national mainstream, that they do succeed in becoming partners in national development.;
In recent years, there is more and more emphasis on the third tier of development, the Panchayati Raj Institutions. India is too large a country to be administered from the Centre or even from the State capital. We should pay special attention to how we can make the panchayati raj in our country a success.;
Today our country is faced with many challenges and the challenges of Naxalite activity, the challenges of terror, the challenge of communal tensions, we should do our very best, to learn what are the factors which lead people to go astray from the mainstream thinking, what is it that we can do to bring back the misguided elements in our society. The law and order has to be administered and administered effectively. ;
In 20 years time, probably 50% of India would be living in urban areas. The management of urban chain, the management of infrastructure, the role of local level administration in meeting the needs of urban development, the needs of law and order, special problems that arise when large conglomerations in metropolitan towns become a fact of life. The policing of these areas requires special skills. And therefore our administration must be very alert to the challenges of rapid urban development, of course that does not mean that we should neglect rural areas. India still lives in rural areas. 52% of our urban population is still dependent on agriculture and it is there that Government has a major role to play in ensuring that development of agriculture takes place at a pace that our nation needs to provide food security, to provide employment security.;
We are fortunate that we are going to be the path builders of new India. Public administration in our country is a privileged service in the service of the people of India and this I sincerely hope and pray that we will come up to the expectations of our people. Jai Hind. Jai Karnataka.;
Reference: Press Information Bureau
