Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday advised bureaucrats to spend quality time with their families and introspect on whether their lives had become robotic. Drawing a distinction between political interference and intervention, Modi said political intervention was not only necessary but inevitable, while interference would destroy the system.
"A life full of tension cannot achieve anything, especially when you have to run the nation…. You are very good at time management but do you spend quality time with your family? Please think about this," he said.
Modi asked bureaucrats to reflect on whether their lives had become "robotic". "If it has happened, it impacts the whole government and the system. We can't be robotic. That can't be our life," the prime minister said during an hour-long interaction with civil servants at the ninth Civil Services Day function at Vigyan Bhawan.
"Why are you sitting like that? I am not going to ask you to do any new work," Modi said, taking a dig at taut-looking officers, evoking peals of laughter. "You read a lot. You must have read books written by the best people in the world. You are basically of this nature and that's why you are here. He who does union bazi in college doesn't come here. He who is lost in books comes here," he said, to much applause. Modi asked bureaucrats to follow the principle of sheelam param bhushanam (character is the highest virtue) - the motto of the Mussoorie-based training academy for bureaucrats.
Modi said, "Accountability, responsibility and transparency; this art is essential for good governance." The PM called for impetus to reforms and technology, as the day is not far when the world will look at m-governance or mobile governance.
Earlier in the day, the PM attended the BJP's weekly parliamentary party meeting. Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu briefed MPs on how the "devil was quoting scriptures" on the issue of ordinance raj, pointing out that past Congress governments issued over 400 ordinances. He also extolled the Gujarat model of land acquisition, while Finance Minister Arun Jaitley explained the provisions of the black money Bill. The PM congratulated Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh for his speech in the Lok Sabha on the agrarian crisis on Monday.
The day was dominated by television news channel reports that Union minister Giriraj Singh was reprimanded by the PM, which made him burst into tears. Singh denied the reports and that he didn't have any meeting with the PM, while Naidu said the hounding of Singh should stop now that he has apologised. He has been criticised for his comments made earlier this month that if Rajiv Gandhi had married a Nigerian woman, and not a white-skinned woman, then would the Congress have accepted her leadership?
"A life full of tension cannot achieve anything, especially when you have to run the nation…. You are very good at time management but do you spend quality time with your family? Please think about this," he said.
Modi asked bureaucrats to reflect on whether their lives had become "robotic". "If it has happened, it impacts the whole government and the system. We can't be robotic. That can't be our life," the prime minister said during an hour-long interaction with civil servants at the ninth Civil Services Day function at Vigyan Bhawan.
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"It is not that your life should become like a file. If a government is there, files will be there, there is no alternative. It (file) is your second ardhang (better half). If you do not care about life, it will get stuck in files," the prime minister said.
"Why are you sitting like that? I am not going to ask you to do any new work," Modi said, taking a dig at taut-looking officers, evoking peals of laughter. "You read a lot. You must have read books written by the best people in the world. You are basically of this nature and that's why you are here. He who does union bazi in college doesn't come here. He who is lost in books comes here," he said, to much applause. Modi asked bureaucrats to follow the principle of sheelam param bhushanam (character is the highest virtue) - the motto of the Mussoorie-based training academy for bureaucrats.
Modi said, "Accountability, responsibility and transparency; this art is essential for good governance." The PM called for impetus to reforms and technology, as the day is not far when the world will look at m-governance or mobile governance.
Earlier in the day, the PM attended the BJP's weekly parliamentary party meeting. Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu briefed MPs on how the "devil was quoting scriptures" on the issue of ordinance raj, pointing out that past Congress governments issued over 400 ordinances. He also extolled the Gujarat model of land acquisition, while Finance Minister Arun Jaitley explained the provisions of the black money Bill. The PM congratulated Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh for his speech in the Lok Sabha on the agrarian crisis on Monday.
The day was dominated by television news channel reports that Union minister Giriraj Singh was reprimanded by the PM, which made him burst into tears. Singh denied the reports and that he didn't have any meeting with the PM, while Naidu said the hounding of Singh should stop now that he has apologised. He has been criticised for his comments made earlier this month that if Rajiv Gandhi had married a Nigerian woman, and not a white-skinned woman, then would the Congress have accepted her leadership?