Boldness required to drive change, says PM

New Delhi : India has not progressed as much as it should have, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today and asserted that boldness is required to drive change.

Addressing IAS officers of the 2015 batch here, he said countries that achieved independence after India, and faced greater resource constraints than India, have touched new heights of development. He underlined that boldness is required to drive change.

He told the young civil servants to avoid getting into a mindset that resists change, and fill India’s administrative system with the energy of New India , a PMO statement said.

The prime minister said a fragmented administrative arrangement does not allow the collective capabilities of officers to deliver to the optimum level. Dynamic change is needed to transform the system, he said.

He asked young officers to interact freely with senior-most officers of the Union government over the next three months of their stint as Assistant Secretaries so that the system could benefit from the combination of their energy and fresh ideas, and the administrative experience of Secretary-level officers, the statement said.

The prime minister asked the young officers to recall their life up to the day of the UPSC result, the challenges they faced and use the opportunities they will now have, to bring about positive changes in the system, and the lives of the common people.

Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Jitendra Singh and senior government officers were present on the occasion.