‘People to reap benefits of Central Laws now’
Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, Jan 31: Union Minister of State in PMO with independent charge of North Eastern States, Dr Jitendra Singh today expressed his dismay that the model of good governance and work culture was not adopted by J&K for decades together which led to a lot of mess in the erstwhile State.
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Addressing the 42nd Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) J&K Branch in his capacity as National Chairman IIPA here today, Dr Jitendra Singh said, not only the model of good governance and work culture was adopted in J&K but also many impediments were created in the implementation of Central laws over a long period of time which like other parts of the country were meant for the welfare and benefit of the people of J&K and Ladakh also.
Dr. Jitendra Singh said that Jammu & Kashmir needs to catch on good governance practices with improvised work culture.
Maintaining that under the new arrangement a sea change has taken place in UTs of J&K and Ladakh, he expressed the hope that people of both the UTs will reap the benefit of the Central laws and good governance now.
The Union Minister said the timing of this meeting is crucial on two accounts. First, on the one hand, under Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, Civil Services and Governance are witnessing some of the most path-breaking reforms which were unimaginable till a few years ago. On the other hand, he said, Jammu & Kashmir as Union Territory today is more responsive and readily amenable to adopt these reforms and practices, and also adopt some of the landmark good practices introduced by the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) and the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (ARPG) which were not adopted by the earlier Governments in Jammu & Kashmir.
Dr Jitendra Singh said the IAS of today is no longer the IAS of yesteryears with the priorities constantly changing, the mechanisms of delivery changing and even training patterns at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration at Mussoorie changing. Above all, the expectations from a civil servant have also changed and today he is expected to be far more accessible, far more transparent and far more accountable.
Keeping all these consistencies in mind, Dr Jitendra Singh recalled that over the last nearly seven years, there have been revolutionary decisions taken to change the face of governance in India. Enumerating a few among them, he mentioned the decision to allow self-attestation of certificates without attestation of Gazetted Officer or anyone else, which was taken immediately after the Modi Government came in 2014.
This was followed by abolition of interview for selection to Government jobs, introduction of three months stint for new IAS officers in the Central Government before going to their respective State/UT cadre, Amendment in Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 which included making the bribe-giver also culpable to offence, Child Care Leave for male employees, enhancement of maternity leave for women employees, Family Pension for divorced daughters, introduction of digital Life Certificate for pensioners, introduction of CPGRAMS driven portal, reorientation of PM Excellence Awards, changes in the curriculum at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Mussoorie, etc, he added,
Most importantly, Dr Jitendra Singh said, in the last two months, two historic decisions have been taken. One of them, he said, relates to “Mission Karamyogi”, which envisage continuous capacity building of every officer through digital mode in order to prepare him for every new assignment taken up by him and at the same time also enable the authorities to scientifically choose the right officer for the right assignment, while the second decision relates to constituting National Recruitment Agency (NRA) for conducting Common Eligibility Test (CET) in order to provide level playing field to every job aspirant across the country, regardless of his socio-economic background.
Dr. Jitendra Singh called upon the IIPA to extend its role and become a partner in the capacity building of officers and at the same time sensitize the stakeholders for the recent best practices introduced by the Modi Government. He also called upon undertaking an intensive membership drive to enroll younger officers, particularly the serving officers so that the IIPA could live up to its avowed role of a wholesome academic resource body dedicated to orienting the standards of governance and administration in keeping with the 21st Century India.
On the occasion a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between National Centre for Good Governance, GoI, Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) New Delhi and IIPA, J&K Regional Branch was signed in presence of Dr. Jitendra Singh and K Srinivas, Establishment Officer and Additional Secretary, Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT), Government of India ; V Srinivas, Additional Secretary, Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, Government of India.
B R Sharma, Chairman, IIPA JKRB in his welcome address emphasized the need for introspection by public servants at all levels for enabling good governance through public participation. While highlighting the achievements of the branch since inception, he said IIPA JKRB has always believed in taking people from diverse background together to promote good governance.
Dr. Ashok Bhan, Patron, IIPA JKRB and former DGP in his address while appreciating the MoU said that IIPA should be considered as the nodal point for the implementation of Mission Karamyogi for enhancing the competencies of the officers of UT. He also proposed the establishment of National Consumer Helpline at the branch.
S N Tripathi, Director General, IIPA, New Delhi in his address said that there is an urgent need to change the colonial mindset of the bureaucracy in order to reduce the democratic deficit. He outlined that vision of IIPA to create digitally enabled officers who are multi-dimensional trained and motivated Karamyogis.
Prof Alka Sharma, Hony Secretary, IIPA JKRB presented a detailed annual report highlighting the various activities of the branch during 2020. Vikrant Kuthiala, Hony Treasurer, IIPA JKRB presented the annual accounts of the branch for the FY 2019-20. Dr. Anil Gupta, joint secretary, IIPA JKRB conducted the proceedings of function.
Other prominent members present during the AGM include Dr. Pawan Kotwal, Inspector General of Registration J&K, K B Jandial, former Member PSC Kuldeep Khoda, Ex CVC, Prof Manoj Dhar, VC JU, Prof Ashok Aima, VC CUJ, Dr. S D Singh, Dr. Amitabh Ranjan, Registrar, IIPA, New Delhi; office bearers and members of the Executive Committee of IIPA; JKAS Probationers, senior officers from police and administration, IMPA faculty members, trainees from SKPA, Udhampur, Life, Associate and Honorary members of IIPA and members from industry and civil society
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