On the occasion of the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the first home minister of India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the probationers of the Indian civil services at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Mussoorie. Modi addressed the council via videoconference.
Modi was quoted as telling the probationers “You are the officers who will be serving the country when it celebrates 100 years of independence. From 2022, the 25 years ahead are very important for the country. You have a huge responsibility.”
He was also noted emphasizing the fact that the role of civil servants is not just to give orders but to assure the country that it would stay on their path to progress in the face of problems or changes.
The conference was focused on Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s contribution to the nation where Modi stated that he was “in a way” the father of the civil services.
Modi’s speech is part of the integrated foundation course ‘Aarambh’ which is an initiative to bring all the probationers of All India Service, Group-A Central Service, and Foreign Service together for a Common Foundation Course (CFC) with the dream to break the silos of departments and services from the very beginning of the career of a civil servant. The course aims at making the civil servants qualified for leading the transformation and work flawlessly across departments and fields. This year, the second edition of Aarambh 2020 is taking place in LBSNAA from October 14 to 31, in which 428 officers trainees from eighteen services and three Royal Bhutan Services are participating.
