Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh on Saturday engaged in an inspiring and wide-ranging interaction with the Officer Trainees (OTs) of the 2023 IAS batch, lauding the historic 41 percent representation of women in the cohort—the highest in the history of the Indian Administrative Service.
Speaking during the ongoing Assistant Secretary Programme, Dr. Singh hailed the presence of 74 women among the 180 probationers as a significant milestone in India’s governance landscape. He credited the landmark achievement to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s commitment to women-led development. “This record representation is a testament to the Prime Minister’s vision of inclusive and progressive governance,” he stated.
The Assistant Secretary Programme, launched in 2015, provides young officers with hands-on exposure to central policymaking by attaching them to 46 ministries for eight weeks. As the initiative marks its 10th anniversary, the Minister said it had created a generation of confident, capable civil servants who had proven their mettle during critical times, including the pandemic.
Reflecting on the growing diversity of India’s bureaucracy, Dr. Singh noted the increased participation of candidates from states like Punjab, Haryana, and the North-East, areas that had historically seen lower representation. He also celebrated the academic diversity of the batch, which includes 99 engineers, along with professionals from medicine and other technical fields. “Today’s flagship programmes—Digital India, Smart Cities—need technocrats. Their contribution is a national asset,” he remarked.
The Minister praised the youthful energy of the batch, with most officers aged between 22 and 26, and urged them to harness the opportunities of the digital era. He encouraged them to utilise the iGOT Karmayogi platform for continuous capacity-building and stay technologically ahead in delivering citizen-centric governance.
Emphasising the evolving nature of civil services, Dr. Singh expressed support for a flexible system that allows officers to gain domain experience outside the government and return as specialists—a “win-win” model, he said.
Addressing the digital divide, the Minister called technology “a great leveller,” citing initiatives like the Swamitva Mission that are transforming rural governance through drone mapping and land digitisation. He also underlined the importance of effective grievance redressal systems, showcasing the CPGRAMS platform, which has resolved 98% of over 26 lakh grievances, most within 13 days.
However, Dr. Singh reminded the trainees that “governance is not just administrative, but deeply human.” He highlighted the government’s move to introduce a ‘human desk’ for emotional closure in grievance redressal and urged officers to approach public service with empathy and integrity.
In a poignant moment, a trainee recalled Dr. Singh’s quote, “One retires from service, not from citizenship.” In response, he spoke of initiatives like the Digital Repository of Expertise and the Anubhav Awards to leverage the wisdom of retired officers for nation-building.
Concluding the session, Dr. Singh urged the new officers to uphold the values of integrity, service, and accountability. “This batch is not only the youngest and most diverse but also the most reflective of New India’s aspirations. Let your work echo the hopes of a billion people,” he said.
