Our aim is to strengthen the legislative framework, revamp administrative practices and procedures, and fast track a systemic response to fighting corruption. A group of ministers is looking into the legal and administrative measures that can be taken in this regard. The group has a wide-ranging mandate and I expect its recommendations to be available very soon. A committee of ministers and representatives of civil society is at work to finalise the draft of the Lok Pal Bill, which we hope to be able to introduce during the monsoon session of Parliament. Two bills relating to judicial accountability and protection of whistle blowers have already been introduced in Parliament. We will soon ratify the United Nations Convention on Corruption. We are committed to bringing more transparency in public procurement and ensuring that disinvestment of public utilities and allocation of public resources are done in a manner that best safeguards the interests of the asset-owning public. I urge all civil servants to contribute to our efforts in fighting corruption. Each one of you is in a position to do so in many meaningful ways and I hope to see renewed energy emanating from you in this fight. I expect you to be honest and fearless in advising your superior authorities, especially the political leadership. Those of you who serve in senior positions would do well to also encourage your subordinate officers in this direction.
People value the work done by honest and dedicated civil servants and look up to them. I would like all of you to work to strengthen the trust and faith which people still have in civil servants. The spontaneous support of the people of Malkangiri, when the ollector of the district was kidnapped by left-wing extremists, is a pointer to the extent of goodwill that well meaning and honest civil servants can achieve. I do believe that the core of the Civil Services is sound and rooted in values of integrity and fair play. It is a pity that instances of individual waywardness, of lack of moral courage, and of surrender to pressures and temptations tarnish the image of the Civil Services and lead to immense criticism and dissatisfaction. I believe it is only up to the Civil Services as a whole to set the highest standards of probity and integrity in public and personal life and to create an atmosphere and a work ethic which encourages honesty and integrity. Disapproval and even ostracisation by peers and colleagues can be a powerful deterrent for those who tend to stray from the path of rectitude.
I would also like to take this opportunity to lay stress on the importance of strengthening local level governance through Panchayats and Municipalities. Our country is too large to be governed effectively from the Centre or even from the State capitals. We have to decentralise power, decentralise decision-making and decentralise the implementation of various development schemes. While the constitutional framework has been in place for some time, most states have shied away from giving effective powers and responsibilities to the third tier. Our civil servants must do their utmost to facilitate real decentralisation of governance in our country.
The provisional population totals for Census 2011 have been released recently. While most of the news appears to be good, the falling child sex ratio is an indictment of our social values. Improving this ratio is not merely a question of stricter compliance with the existing laws. What is more important is how we view and value the girl child in our society. The social bias against women has to be fought with all the physical and moral resources at our command. There has to be a national campaign to counter this bias and I expect civil servants to play a big role in it.
The need to re-fashion our Civil Services as effective instruments for delivery of services and as agents of improved governance is an ongoing process. The aim should be to evolve new and imaginative solutions for the problems facing us. Excessive caution, reliance on precedents and following the beaten path have to give way to innovation and inventiveness and to trying out new methods. Merit, capability and quality should matter more than mere seniority. To deal with the newer challenges, civil servants also need to continuously update themselves. They have to continuously expand their horizons through learning and training. Only this would equip them to keep pace with the changing times. I hope the deliberations today will also focus on these aspects and attempt to chart a path for such change.
Excerpts from the speech of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Civil Services Day in New Delhi on April 22
