ITANAGAR, 21 Apr: Chief Minister Pema Khandu called upon the civil servants to rededicate themselves to the cause of serving the citizens, and to renew their commitment to public service and excellence in work.
He was addressing a conglomeration of civil servants, including all-India service and state civil service officers, during the Civil Service Day celebration at the DK Convention Centre here on Thursday.
Acknowledging the contributions of former officers in the evolution of Arunachal to its present stage, the CM said, “It was only because of the sincerity, hard work and professionalism of the civil servants of that bygone era that Arunachal Pradesh could move forward, matching steps with the rest of the country. On this day, I, on behalf of the people of the state, express gratitude and pay tributes to all those former civil servants and bureaucrats who served in Arunachal Pradesh and helped it grow.”
Khandu said that Arunachal has been lucky to have had excellent civil servants in the past and continues to have some of the best, sincere, hardworking and dedicated civil servants today.
“With your support, cooperation and sincerity, the state government today has brought in several reforms, which have started showing positive results,” he said.
As the general tenure of all-India service officers in the state is only two years, Khandu said that a lot depends on the state civil service officers in delivering governance to the people. He urged the state civil service officers, who are mostly indigenous to the state, to take ownership of the state and its development.
“Until and unless our local officers take ownership of the state, no chief minister or any government can take the state on the path of progress. We the political class are entirely dependent upon the system and you are the system,” he said.
He advised the civil servants, especially those heading departments, to travel to the districts and coordinate with the district administrations to push schemes and programmes being implemented by their respective departments.
“Our focus should be to change the dynamics of the rural economy through proper implementation of all state and central government flagship programmes. If you don’t travel, you will not be able to ensure proper implementation of schemes,” he said.
Khandu added that the state government is committed to enhance the capacity of the civil servants, besides looking after their welfare.
“We have signed an MoU with Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Centre for Policy Research and Analysis-IIM, Shillong, for collaborating as a knowledge partner for capacity building of state government officers, and collaborated with LBSNAA, Mussoorie, to undertake training programmes for our civil service officers,” he informed.
The chief minister congratulated the Arunachal Pradesh Staff Selection Board (APSSB), headed by its Chairman Rajeev Verma and Secretary Santosh Kumar Rai, on winning the prestigious Chief Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration-2022, which is conferred every year on the occasion. He stated that “the APSSB has not only restored the faith of the people in the recruitment process but also in the process of governance as a whole.”
Terming the constituting of the APSSB “one of the best practices adopted by the state,” Khandu advocated the need to “learn from best practices of other states, and even countries.”
Citing Estonia’s ‘once only’ principle, he explained, “It implies that once a citizen has provided a piece of information, it is the government’s responsibility to share with other departments and reuse that information, instead of different departments asking citizens to provide the same information again.”
Khandu claimed that the practice reportedly saves Estonia about two percent of GDP annually.
On the occasion, the CM also launched the Smart Performance Appraisal Report Recording Online Window, which will facilitate electronic filing of performance appraisal reports by state civil service officers from anywhere, anytime, as per convenience.
“Henceforth, there will be no issues of missing APARs currently affecting timely career advancement of APCS officers, speed up promotions and reduce stagnation,” he said.
Khandu congratulated Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar and Principal Secretary Rajeev Verma on being posted as the chief secretary of Delhi and Puducherry, respectively. He also thanked all the IAS and IPS officers transferred out of the state for their support and contributions to the state. (CM’s PR Cell)