Friday, April 21 2006 12:47 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Asserting that the civil service has to reorient itself and be trained to deliver better services to the people, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today (Apr 21, 2006) put several posers before the country's bureaucrats, including whether the present method of recruitment was appropriate for inducting the right persons into Government.

Addressing the first Civil Services Day function here, Singh, credited with the country's liberalisation process, also stated categorically that market signals cannot have significance for millions of people living on the edge of subsistence with little in the form of assets or skills to be active participants in the evolving market economy.

"To make the Government more efficient, we need a new public service orientation in the thinking of civil servants. You cannot view yourself as mere administrators. You are also managers. You have to manage change and manage efficient delivery of public services. This new orientation must begin at the very beginning," he said.

"Are the civil services adequately equipped to address these emerging challenges? If not, what must we do to address these challenges? Is the present method of recruitment appropriate for inducting the right kind of persons into Government? Are performance assessment and appraisal methods for preparing the civil services for the emerging demands on them and the Government? How do we make the civil services an attractive career proposition for a talented young person?," Singh asked.

Singh said while there may not be immediate answers to the questions he raised, the issues must be addressed "If the civil services have to be reinvented to meet the needs of the future".

Maintaining that the modernisation of economy and society will require Governments to play new roles in an increasingly transparent manner, he said, "Our civil servants must learn to seek the right information and utilise it for public good."

Referring to the explosion of civil service activities, the Prime Minister said Governments need to constructively engage with civil society, actively seek answers to problems in a transparent manner and manage the interface with public opinion effectively.

"Modern Governments will have to reorient themselves to this reality. Government must develop the capability to work in a more open environment with more demanding standards of transparency and accountability", he said.

Pointing to the changing situation where citizens were expecting good service from the Government as a matter of sight, he said Governments were now expected to deliver fficient public services or facilitate privatisation.

"Effectiveness and efficiency of public service delivery is increasingly being demanded as a basic right of the citizen. Government is expected to be a service provider than a mere administrator of public service delivery system", he said.

Sharing the dais with the Prime Minister were Minister of State for Personnel Suresh Pachouri, Cabinet Secretary B K Chaturvedi and Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister T K A Nair.