3rd Annual Lecture of the UPSC Lecture Series on Governance New Delhi 1 December 2011 Creative Leadership: Essence of good governance “Before you do anything, stop and recall the face of the poorest most helpless destitute person you have seen and ask yourself, “Is what I am about to do going to help him?” …Mahatma Gandhi
I am delighted to give the 3rd Annual Lecture on Governance and Public Service organized by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to this audience who are part of the governance system of our great Nation. During the last six decades of Independence, India has established that her core competence is in providing leadership to over one billion people of a democratic country with multi religious, multi lingual and multi cultural characteristics. UPSC has played an important role in selecting and recommended the most talented persons for appointment to various segments of our National governance system. Over the last six decades UPSC has selected nearly quarter of a million candidates, after examining over forty-six million applicants which is equivalent to the entire population of South Africa or England. UPSC has inspite of various factors affecting societal dynamics, has conducted examinations, interviews, personality tests and recommending
suitable candidate for Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam www.abdulkalam.com
various
Services,
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particularly Civil Services dealing with district administration, Law and Order, Agriculture Services, Communication Services, Medical Services, Railway Services and Engineering Services under this intense competition. I would like to congratulate you for having a clean record of selecting the candidate for the required task insulated from societal turbulence. Today I would like to talk on the topic “Creative Leadership: Essence of good governance”. Problem cannot be our master – We Japanese will become the master of the problems On 29th November night, I was returning from Seoul, Republic of Korea to Delhi on a non-stop seven and half hours flight after attending the Eminent Persons Group meeting organized by the President of Republic of South Korea prior to 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit. This meet was attended by top experts in the nuclear field from different countries. The mission of EPG is to establish safety and security guidelines for 539 nuclear power plants spread all over the world. I am not going to talk about the details of that meet, but I would like to mention one incident which was narrated by Prof. Shinichi Kitaoka, a Professor of Faculty of Law, University of Tokyo to me and the EPG members.
The professor was narrating the
whole scene, the combination of highest intensity earthquake and the tsunami which affected the 40 years old Fukushima nuclear power plant. He said, the world has gone through so far three major nuclear power plant accidents. One in USA, Page 2 of 20
one in former USSR and the latest in Japan. He said, in the Japan
accident,
even
though
the
Fukushima
plant
experienced a major natural havoc leading to the major accident of the nuclear power plant, there was no single radiation induced casualty and there was no radiation leakage. Of course, it has generated within Japan and also many parts of the world, a fear about the type of safety in the present and future shore-based nuclear power stations situated in various parts of the world. The most profound statement of Prof Kitaoka, was “two cities of Japan were attacked by nuclear weapons in 1940s. It was a painful tragedy, but Japanese citizens withstood boldly, challenged the problem and within three decades, Japan got transformed into the most industrialized nation in the world. Now, Fukushima nuclear power plant problem is in front of us. We the Japanese will not allow this problem to become our master. With international cooperation, we the Japanese will become the master of the problem, defeat the problem and the world will see clean-green nuclear energy flourishing all over the place.� Leadership is the essence of good governance How to make the governance system of the country most effective and ensure development of the nation which will make and sustain the nation as an economically developed, prosperous, happy and peaceful society in the world? For that
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what you need is to have creative leadership at all segments of the governance of the nation. Friends, I have seen three dreams which have taken shape as vision, mission and realization. Space programme of ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization), AGNI programme of DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organization) and PURA (Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas) becoming the National Mission. Of course, these three programmes succeeded in the midst of many challenges and problems. I have worked in all these three areas. I would like to convey to you what I have learnt on leadership from these three programmes: a.
Leader must have a vision.
b.
Leader must have passion to realize the vision.
c.
Leader must be able to travel into an unexplored path.
d.
Leader must know how to manage a success and failure.
e.
Leader must have courage to take decisions.
f.
Leader should have nobility in management.
g.
Leader should be transparent in every action.
h.
Leader becomes the master of the problem, defeats the problem and succeeds.
j.
Leader must work with integrity and succeed with integrity.
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Let me illustrate these characteristics through our national programmes. Vision for self-sufficiency in food The vision for the First Green Revolution emanated during the 1970s from the political leadership of Shri C. Subramaniam.
With the Visionary leadership of Shri C.
Subramaniam, the team with the scientific leadership of Nobel Laureate Dr. Norman Borlaugh and Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, with the active support of Shri B. Sivaraman, Secretary Agriculture, Dr. M.S. Swaminathan in partnership with agricultural scientists and farmers liberated India from the situation of what was called “ship to mouth existence”. Through an effort of historical magnitude, India attained near self-sufficiency in food through “Seed to Grain” mission.
As
part of this first green revolution, the country has been able to produce over 236 million tonnes of food grains per year now. Of course, farmers played a pivotal role in working with agricultural scientists in farm itself. The political leadership and the scientific leadership has been able to build the capacity among our scientists, researchers and farmers to take up the mission of “second green revolution” which is indeed a knowledge graduation from characterization of soil to the matching of the seed with the composition of the fertilizer, water management and evolving pre-harvesting techniques for such conditions. The
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domain
of
a
farmer’s
work
would
enlarge
from
grain
production to food processing and marketing. India has now embarked upon the Second Green Revolution which will enable it to further increase the productivity in the agricultural sector. By 2020 India would require to produce over 340 million tonnes in view of population growth and increased purchasing power. The increase in the production would surmount many impeding factors such as reduce availability of land, shortage of water and
reduced
availability
of
agricultural
workforce.
Our
agricultural scientists and technologists in partnership with farmers have to work for increasing the average productivity per hectare has to be increased three times compared to present productivity. The type of technologies needed would be in the areas of development of seeds that would ensure high yield varieties even under constraints of water and land. Passion to realize the vision Now let me describe to you an example of how passion to realize the vision has facilitated the successful and on-time implementation of a two billion dollar metro-rail project by the Managing Director of a public sector organization. The Delhi Metro Rail Project has given to the nation the potential of executing a fast transportation system using high technology with reliability through a time bound mission mode operation. Delhi, the Capital of the country with over 20 Page 6 of 20
million population, has the distinction of having a world class metro rail with frontline technologies. The work on the metro rail commenced on 1st October 1998 and the first phase with three lines covering 66 kms has been completed by December 2005. Today over all route length created by Delhi Metro is around
190
Kms.
Everyday,
metro
handle
minimum
movement of 2 million passengers. Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has brought to the country, the most advanced rail technologies for the first time. Here is a leader who has passion and passion for excellence. The notable gains to the country are, light weight stainless steel, sleek, modern trains with pneumatic springs, regenerative braking, public information display, wide vestibules and automatic doors.
The sophisticated coach technology which
was not available in the country so far, has been transferred to M/s. Bharat Earth Movers Ltd., Bangalore, which is now assembling
these
trains
with
progressive
indigenization.
BEML is now in a position to supply train sets needed for Phase-II of Delhi Metro Rail Project and meet the requirement for Metros coming up in other cities of the country. Mr. E. Sreedharan, the Managing Director of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has ensured that, all the scheduled sections were completed by their target date or before and within their respective budgets through his programme management skills. The dedicated and transparent leadership backed up with professional competence of Mr. Sreedharan has given to the Page 7 of 20
nation, one of the best transportation systems of the world at the most economic cost. He is a recipient of many national and international awards. Also, he is in demand for undertaking the development of metro system in different countries of the world which he has politely declined due to pre-occupation with committed Indian programmes. Now I would like to talk about a leader who ventured to travel in an unexplored path. Traveling in unexplored path I was fortunate to work with Prof. Vikram Sarabhai for seven years and while closely working with him, I saw the dawn of the vision for the space programme in a one page statement. Witnessing the evolution of this one page by a cosmic ray physicist, a great scientific mind and be a part of the team which has been working ceaselessly for many years to realize the vision have been of
really great learning for me.
Also I am thrilled to see the famous vision statement of Prof Vikram Sarabhai made in the year 1970 which states “India with her mighty scientific knowledge and power house of young, should build her own huge rocket systems (satellite launch vehicles) and also build her own communication, remote sensing and meteorological spacecraft and launch from her own soil to enrich the Indian life in satellite communication, remote sensing and meteorology. The projects selected in space programme, are designed to meet the societal needs�. Total 150 transponders are there in the geo-synchronous orbit for Page 8 of 20
providing connectivity to the nation. If I look at this vision statement today, I am overwhelmed to see the results of this statement. Today India can build any type of satellite launch vehicle, any type of spacecraft and launch them from Indian soil.
India
also
has
launched
Chandrayaan
and
has
successfully placed the satellite in Lunar Orbit and now it is preparing for manned missions to other planets.
India has
proved that through space science and technology, we can provide effective communication, resource mapping, disaster predication and disaster management systems. Now, I would like to give an incident which demonstrates the characteristics of Dr. Vikram Sarabhai for traveling in an unexplored path. Purpose of life: It was during early 1960’s, the founder of Indian Space Research Programme Prof. Vikram Sarabhai with his team, had located a place technically most suited for space research after considering many alternatives. The place called Thumba in Kerala, was selected for space research as it was near the
magnetic equator, ideally suited for ionospheric
and electrojet research in upper atmosphere. The major challenge for Prof Vikram Sarabhai was to get the place in a specific area.
As was normal, Prof. Vikram
Sarabhai approached the Kerala Government administrators first. After seeing the profile of the land and the sea coast, the view expressed was that, thousands of fishing folks lived there; the place had an ancient St Mary Magdalene Church, Bishop’s Page 9 of 20
House and a school. Hence it would be very difficult to give this land and they were willing to provide land in an alternative area. Similarly the political system also opined that it would be a difficult situation due to the existence of important institutions and the concern for people who were to be relocated. However there was a suggestion to approach the only person who could advise and help. That was “Rev Father Peter Bernard Pereira” who was Bishop of the region. Prof Vikram Sarabhai approached the Bishop on a Saturday evening, I still remember.
The meeting between the two
turned out to be historical.
Many of us witnessed the event.
Rev Father exclaimed, “Oh Vikram, you are asking my children’s abode, my abode and God’s abode. How is it possible?”
However, both had a unique quality that they
could smile even in difficult situations.
Rev Father Peter
Bernard Pereira asked Prof. Vikram Sarabhai to come to church on Sunday morning at 9.00 AM. Prof. Vikram Sarabhai went to the church with his team again on Sunday. At that time the prayer was progressing with the recitation of Bible by Father Pereira. After the prayer was over, the Bishop invited Prof. Vikram Sarabhai to come to the dais.
The Rev Father
introduced Prof Vikram Sarabhai to the people, “Dear children, here is a scientist, Prof. Vikram Sarabhai. What do sciences do? All of us experience, including this church, the light from electricity. I am able to talk to you through the mike which is made possible by technology. The diagnosis and treatment to Page 10 of 20
patients by doctors comes from medical sciences. Science through technology enhances the comfort and quality of human life. What do I do, as a preacher? I pray for you, for your well being, for your peace. In short, what Vikram is doing and what I am doing are the same - both science and spirituality seek the Almighty’s blessings for human prosperity in body and mind. Dear Children, Prof Vikram says, he would build within a year, near the sea-coast, alternative
facilities
to what we are having. Now dear children, can we give your abode, can we give my abode, can we give the God’s abode for a great scientific mission?” There was a total silence, a pin drop silence. Then all of them got up and said ‘Amen’ which made the whole church reverberate. That was the church where we had our design centre, where we started rocket assembly and the Bishop’s house was our scientists’ working place.
Later the Thumba Equatorial
Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) led to the establishment of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) and the space activities transformed into multiple space centers throughout the country. Now this church has become an important centre of learning, where thousands of people learn about the dynamic history of the space programme of India and the great minds of a scientist and spiritual leader. Of course, the Thumba citizens got the well equipped facilities, worshiping place and educational centre in an alternate place at the right time.
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When I think of this event, I can see how enlightened spiritual and scientific leaders can converge towards giving reverence to the human life. Of course the birth of TERLS and then VSSC gave the country the capability for launch vehicles, spacecraft and space applications that have accelerated social and economic development in India to unprecedented levels. Today, among us, Prof Vikram Sarabhai is not there, Rev Peter Bernard Pereira is not there, but those who are responsible for creation and making flowers blossom will themselves be a different kind of flower as described in the Bhagwat
Gita:
"See
the
flower,
how
generously
it
distributes perfume and honey. It gives to all, gives freely of its love. When its work is done, it falls away quietly. Try to be like the flower, unassuming despite all its qualities". What a beautiful message, to the humanity on the purpose of life reflected the spiritual component. Managing success and failure Three decades ago while I was working at ISRO, I had the best of education which won't come from any university. I will narrate that incident. I was given a task by Prof. Satish Dhawan the then Chairman, ISRO to develop the first satellite launch vehicle SLV-3, to put ROHINI Satellite in orbit. This was one of the largest high technology space programmes undertaken in 1973. The whole space technology community, men and women, were geared up for this task. Thousands of Page 12 of 20
scientists, engineers and technicians worked resulting in the realization of the first SLV-3 launch on 10th August 1979. SLV-3 took off in the early hours and the first stage worked beautifully. Even though all stage rockets and systems worked, the mission could not achieve its objectives, as the control system in 2nd stage malfunctioned. Instead of being placed in the orbit, the Rohini satellite went into Bay of Bengal. The mission was a failure. There was a press conference at Sriharikota, after the event. Prof. Dhawan took me to the press conference. And there he announced that he takes responsibility for not achieving the mission, even though I was the project director and the mission director. When we launched SLV-3 on 18th July 1980, successfully injecting the Rohini Satellite in to the orbit, again there was a press conference and Prof. Dhawan put me in the front to share the success story with the press. What we learn from this event is that the leader gives the credit for success to those who worked for it, and leader absorbs and owns the responsibility for the failure. This is the leadership. The scientific community in India has the fortune to work with such leaders, which resulted in many accomplishments. This success generated great happiness among all my team members. This is an important lesson for all youth who are aspiring to be tomorrow’s leaders. The great lesson we learn: the leader in any
field,
political,
administrative,
scientific,
education,
industry, judiciary, or any other human activity, should have Page 13 of 20
the creative leadership capacity and courage to absorb the failure and give the successes to his or her team members. This I learnt and learnt all the way. Leader has the courage to take decision Friends, I still remember a scene during May 1996. was 9 O’clock at night.
It
I got a call from the then Prime
Minister’s House that I should meet the Prime Minister Shri PV Narasimha Rao immediately. I met him just 2 days before the announcement of General Election results.
He told me
“Kalam, be ready with your team for the N-Test and I am going to Tirupati. You wait for my authorization to go ahead with the test.
DRDO-DAE teams must be ready for action.
Of
course the election result was quite different from what he anticipated. I was busy in Chandipur missile range. I got a call saying that I must meet immediately the Prime Minister designate Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayeeji with Shri Narasimha Raoji. I witnessed a unique situation. Shri Narasimha Raoji the outgoing Prime Minister - asked me to brief the details of N-programme to Shri Vajpayeeji, so that a smooth take over of such a very important programme can take place. This incident reveals the maturity and professional excellence of a patriotic statesman who believed that the nation is bigger than the political system. Of-course after taking over as Prime Minister in 1998, the first task given by Shri Vajpayeeji to me was to conduct the nuclear test at the earliest. Both these leaders had the courage to take difficult decisions boldly, even Page 14 of 20
though the consequences of such a decision have great national and international significance. Nobility in management Friends, the next leader I would like to discuss is Prof Brahm Prakash. When I was the Project Director of SLV3 programme, Prof. Brahm prakash – a great scientific leader with nobility, was the Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), which integrated multiple institutions based on the advice of Prof. Kamala Chowdhuri, a management guru from IIM. Prof Brahm Prakash took hundreds of decisions for the growth of space science and technology. One important decision which I will always cherish was once a programme such as SLV3 is sanctioned
the multiple laboratories of
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre and also the multiple centres of ISRO including the Space Department have to work to realize the stated goals of the programme as a team. Particularly during 1973 – 1980, there was a tremendous financial crunch and competing requirement from many small projects. He converged all scientific and technological work to be focused towards SLV3 and its satellite. Prof.
Brahm
Prakash
is
famous
for
When I say that the
evolution
of
management with nobility, I would like to give a few instances. He enabled for the first time evolution of a comprehensive management plan for SLV-3 programme towards the mission of putting the Rohini satellite in orbit. After my task team Page 15 of 20
prepared the SLV3 management plan, in a period of 3 months time, he arranged nearly fifteen brainstorming meetings of the Space Scientific Committee (SSC).
After discussion and
approval, this management plan was signed by Prof Brahm Prakash and became the guiding spirit and working document for the whole organization. This was also the beginning of converting the national vision into mission mode programmes. During the evolution of the management plan, I could see, how multiple views emerged and how, many people were afraid of losing individuality due to the main mission, thereby throwing anger in the meetings.
I could also see how Prof. Brahm
Prakash radiated with smile in the midst of continuous smoke coming from the cigarette continuously being lit one after the other. The anger, fear and prejudice have all disappeared in the presence of his nobility in thinking. Today, the space programme, launch vehicle, spacecraft, scientific experiments and launch missions all are taking place in the centres of Indian Space Research Organization in a cohesive and cooperative manner. I learnt the hard way from this great mighty soul “before starting any programme, it is essential to have the project management plan with the details of, how to steer the project during different phases of the project and foresee the possible critical paths and possible solutions and keeping time, performance and schedule as key factors.� I thank this great mighty soul who evolved the concept of management with nobility and was a very famous professor in Page 16 of 20
metallurgy at the Indian Institute of Science. He was also a pioneer
for
giving
the
country
–
nuclear
material
by
establishing the Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC). Transparency in leadership The actions to be taken by the government does not reach the citizens in-time because of the complexity of the decisions,
length
of
implementation
path
and
lack
of
transparency. For this I would suggest a unique model which is
being
practiced
in
Gujarat.
Under
this
program,
approximately one lakh government officials, from the Chief Minister to Taluka level staff from 15 Departments, along with about
1582
stakeholders
agricultural
scientists,
like
society
civil
and
several
organisations,
other elected
representatives, farmers and women spend a month during April/May
in
rural
areas
demonstrating
the
best
of
technologies to farmers. Such initiatives indicate a strong administrative will to ensure development reaches the rural sector. Krushi Mahotsav tours all 18,600 villages of the state, providing information and counselling on soil health, organic farming, technology and inputs, irrigation, etc., besides infusing a new spirit of change and mass mobilization. In addition, the Gujarat Govt has instituted an e-governance system linking the panchayat level, district HQs, and the state govt leading to transparency and speed with the decision making process.
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Work with integrity and succeed with integrity On 22nd Nov 2011 I went to Jorhat for addressing the World
Tea
Science
Congress.
Their
I
addressed
the
Administrative and police officers of Jorhat and Dibrugarh district which was organized by Mr R C Jain, DM Jorhat on 21st November evening. There I administered an oath to the participants “I will work with integrity and succeed with integrity”. The decibel level was very high when they said “work with integrity” and decibel level went down when they were repeating “succeed with integrity”. But next day, I saw a very beautiful situation in the World Tea Science Congress in the presence of CM of Assam and the Jorhat Adminsitrative team. I saw in front of me the Chairman of Tea Board Mr MGVK Bhanu an IAS officer, giving the introductory speech to the participants of World Tea Science Congress. Mr Bhanu said, “Yesterday, Dr.Kalam administered an oath to all the IAS and IPS officers including myself”.
I would to like to assure
you Dr Kalam that I have worked with integrity and succeeded with integrity during the last 24 years as an IAS officer in different parts of the State and the Centre. Now I am in the Tea Board. I was Secretary to the CM of Assam”. I would like to assure Dr. Kalam that I have tried to create a brand of moral uprightness in all my tasks”. Shri Bhanu also mentioned that he was thinking for the whole night “what he should be remembered for” he said he would like to be remembered for making India the largest producer of tea, and largest exporter Page 18 of 20
of tea in the world.
I am very happy to share this unique
experience. If every functionary of Govt of India has such a vision and mission I am confident that we will get transformed into a developed nation well before 2020. Friends, so far I have discussed with you nine unique dimensions of creative leadership for the governance. Here, let me recall a profound saintly message to all of us by Maharishi Patanjali 2500 years ago. "When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bounds.
Your
mind
transcends
limitations,
your
consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents come alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamt yourself to be." Conclusion: Vision for the nation and governance India has to transform into an economically developed nation by the year 2020. This means our citizens can live in a green clean environment without pollution, having prosperity without poverty, peace without fear of war and a happy place to the live for all citizens of the nation. I am sure, with nine dimensions of creative leadership quality which will be the foundation for our talented human power, that will transform India into a performing nation. Indeed UPSC is a partner in Page 19 of 20
this transformation by equipping the nation in multiple fields with the best human power with the great quality “what can I give” and “I will work with integrity and succeed with integrity”. Once again let me greet all the participants of this “UPSC lecture series on governance”. My best wishes to all the members of the UPSC success in their mission of providing the best talent who will use their ideas and mind power for a better India and the better world. May God bless you.
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1
SPEECH OF HON’BLE CHAIRMAN
Respected Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, Hon’ble former President of India, Shri V. Narayanasamy, Hon’ble Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances & Pension, Hon’ble Members of the Commission, Distinguished Guests, Ladies & Gentlemen, 2. It is indeed a great honour and privilege that former Hon’ble President of India Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam has agreed to deliver the 3rd UPSC Foundation Day lecture on ‘Governance’. It gives me immense pleasure to welcome you all on this occasion. 3. India is a land of diversity. This diversity spans across culture, tradition, language, geography and the economic conditions of the people. Fulfillment of the basic needs of citizen remains the most important area of governance. 4. The Constitution put the responsibility on State for the welfare of the people. It is the duty of the State to secure to the people of India, living standards ensuring social security through public spending. It is through the members of civil services the programmes and the policies of government are implemented. 5. To my mind, the quality of Governance is determined by the relationship between Policy makers, (the political executive) implementing Bureaucrats and the citizen. The fundamental principle of creating a long lasting relationship, bordering on loyalty, depends on the appreciation of needs and wants of the each organ. Citizen satisfaction must be the touch stone of measurement. In a democracy, the policy makers get input directly from citizen as well as through bureaucracy. The honesty of this relationship is extremely important for right and unbiased policy decision. No link should bring extraneous factors while providing input. A need for imbibing moral values in the public servants is also vital. Good governance largely depends on correct manning of the public services by the people with right attitude and ethics. This is the role the framers of the Constitution envisaged for the Public Service Commissions. 6. Recognizing the role of the civil servants in the changed paradigm, the UPSC have been reviewing its methods and process of recruiting Civil Servants. The scheme of the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination has been revised from this year as per the recommendations of an Expert Committee. The changes have been well received as they provide the candidates a level playing field leading to improved quality of selection. Consistent with the need for selecting the right kind of person from huge
pool consisting of multiple languages, creeds, culture and communities, Commission has now constituted a high power Committee to suggest possible changes in the pattern of Civil Services (Main) Examination. I would like to make it very clear that the endeavor of the Commission is to ensure that all the candidates are judged on the basis of in-depth knowledge and understanding rather than information gathered at the last moment. 7. Like the changes made in the Civil Service examination, Commission is also looking at other examinations conducted by it to bring them in tune with the present scenario of country’s development and aspiration of people. Similarly, to improve the process of induction of ‘State Civil Service’ Officers and Non-state ‘Civil Service Officers’ to All India Service, Commission had recommended an alternative system to the Government (Department of Personnel and Training) which is under its active consideration. 8. Previously, a perception was created that a lot of delay takes place at Commission while the truth was that most of the proposal/cases received by us are half-baked and incomplete without even the basic documents required for examination. To tackle this problem, we have held workshops for the Ministries and Departments to sensitize them about the manner in which proposals are to be sent and the documents that are mandatory. Thereafter, we introduced a Single Window System whereby all the proposals are examined across the table and only complete ones are accepted. This system has been successful and we are in a position now to tender advice within the shortest possible time. To cite an example, the DPC proposals are now finalized in a record time of 43 days as against the normal time of 120 days and the Disciplinary cases are disposed in 2.8 months as against the normal disposal time of 6 months. 9. To improve governance, more and more use of information technology is required and existing procedures need thorough re-engineering. I may inform you that in the Union Public Service Commission there have been a gradual increase in the use of IT in our functions with a view to continuously enhancing system efficiency for better delivery of our responsibilities. Commission has now resorted to receiving applications through on-line mode for all its structured examinations and for direct recruitment selections, this is being introduced in a phased manner. 10. I am of the firm view that in future managing public services in an efficient way and to the satisfaction of citizens shall throw great challenges offering young persons an excitement they are looking for. In a globalised world, full of opportunities, to attract talented persons towards public service, the selection process has to be fast so as not to miss the bright ones to be snatched away by other sectors. Government may use appropriate communication strategy in order to attract the best to the public service.
3
11. Educational Institutions and Media can play an important role in highlighting the contribution a public servant makes for the welfare of the people of this nation. There are great many public servants whose conduct, working style and commitment has been exemplary. We must respect them and also project them as role models for the benefit of the young aspirant. 12. ‘Transparency’ plays a key role in good governance. Commission believes that transparency in the functioning of the Organizations and their accountability to discharge constitutional obligations should be complementary and not mutually destructive in nature. Rather harmonization and balance between these two is the need of the day. Hon’ble the Supreme Court of India has stressed on this issue in the case of Central Board of Secondary Education & Anr. Vs Aditya Bandopadhyay & Ors. In Civil Appeal No. 6454 of 2011 and I quote – “The Act seeks to bring about a balance between two conflicting interests, as harmony between them is essential for preserving democracy. One is to bring about transparency and accountability by providing access to information under the control of public authorities. The other is to ensure that the revelation of information in actual practice does not conflict with other public interests which include efficient operation of the governments, optimum use of limited fiscal resources and preservation of confidentiality of sensitive information. Indiscriminate and impartial demands or directions under RTI Act for disclosure of all and sundry information (unrelated to transparency and accountability in the functioning of public authorities and eradication of corruption) would be counter-productive as it will adversely affect the efficiency of the administration and result in the executive getting bogged down with the non-productive work of collecting and furnishing information. The Act should not be allowed to be misused or abused, to become a tool to obstruct the national development and integration, or to destroy peace, tranquility and harmony among its citizens. Nor should it be converted into a tool of oppression or intimidation of honest officials striving to do their duty.” Unquote. 13. While the rights of citizens are important and all the efforts are to be made to ensure them, the integrity of processes and time tested procedures of Constitutional bodies as well as their exemplary accountability standards should be taken into account before deciding any issue. 14. For the Commission, every candidate is a potential Public Servant. The Commission ensures that nothing which would have made the candidate suitable has been left out of consideration and no injustice is done to anyone. However, in a competitive examination all cannot be selected and only the best will be successful. Acceptance of this fact will go a long way in ensuring quality selections on time, maintenance of public faith and
reduction in unnecessary litigations arising out of individual interest rather than public interest. 15. Through the National Conference of the Chairpersons of State Public Service Commissions, of which Chairman UPSC is the National Chairman, the best practices and procedures among all the StatePSCs are shared. The main theme of the 13th National Conference held at Mumbai has been ‘the role of PSCs in meeting the public aspiration and image building’. It is felt that persons of high standing, intellectual ability and impeccable reputation of integrity needs to be considered for manning the Constitutional positions of Chairman/Members of the Public Service Commissions. 16. Special care and considerations are given by the Commission to the needs of the people living in the North East region of the Country. In this regard, we had commissioned a study by IIM, Shillong which inter alia reveals that the overall awareness amongst the youth in the North-eastern egion about the Union Public Service Commission is very high. It further reveals that a considerable number (nearly 60%) of applicants visit the website of the Commission which is user friendly. A Workshop on the use of IT for the benefit especially of PSCs of North Eastern Region would be conducted next month at Kolkata. 17. To further the idea of promoting international cooperation, and to learn from each other’s expertise and best practices in recruiting public servants and assimilate them while developing the processes of recruitment suited to one’s own needs, UPSC had hosted the “Conference of the Chiefs of Public Service Commissions of SAARC countries, in 2010. Commission, have signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Public Service Commission of Canada and with Royal Civil Service Commission of the Royal Government of Bhutan in 2011 and another with Independent Administrative Reforms and Civil Service Commission of the Government of Afghanistan is on the anvil. A request for long-term cooperation with the Commission has been received from Civil Commission of Mongolia. 18. The glorious past enhances the Commission’s responsibility to strive for further betterment. The changing role of Government from a ‘controller’ to a ‘facilitator’ demands consequential changes in the role and functions of civil servant. It is the responsibility of UPSC to select such civil servants suitable to the changing times and I would like to assure you on this occasion that all efforts will be made in this direction. Gandhiji’s “Suraj” will be achieved if the bright young people selected through Commission find a right environment to work in Civil Service. JAI HIND
Welcome Speech by Hon'ble Member Smt. Shashi Uban Tripathi
Hon'ble former President of India Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Hon'ble Union Minister of State Shri V. Narayanasamy, Hon'ble Chairman, UPSC Prof. D.P Agrawal, Hon'ble Members of the UPSC, Distinguished Guests, Ladies & Gentlemen.
It is with great pleasure that I welcome this distinguished gathering to the 3rd Lecture in our Series on 'Governance and Public Service' to be delivered by none other than the renowned former President of India, Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam.
The inaugural
lecture in this Series was delivered by Her Excellency, the President of India and the Second by the Honourable Vice-President of India.
The subject of 'Governance and Public Service' has exercised the minds and hearts of many a ruler and political thinker down the ages and has been addressed by the likes of Kautilya and Ashoka and Akbar.
Today, its relevance is more critical than ever.
On
behalf of the Commission and on my own behalf, I extend a warm welcome to our Chief Guest who found time amidst his multifarious preoccupations and travels to be with us this afternoon to speak on this subject. We are deeply honoured.
Dr. Kalam is a special person. He can engage with a child as readily as he does with a rocket scientist. He is equally at ease with king and commoner. His most endearing quality is his childlike simplicity and his genuine good nature. I have been fortunate to travel with him on his State visits to Africa and Europe and saw with amazement how he charmed
all manner of people – from
Intellectuals to Journalists to students.
He received a laudatory
press wherever he went and was even hailed as the 'Saint Scientist'.
He was probably the only serving President who
understood Einstein's famous formula, E=MC2 ! I can not think of a person better suited to speaking on the subject of Governance and Public Service than Dr. Kalam.
His pet project called PURA
(Providing Urban Facilities to Rural Areas) reflects his emotional connection with common people and his vision for their well being and empowerment.
This is a goal that the Commission shares with its Hon'ble Chief Guest. Citizen's welfare is expected to be at heart of policy formulation.
It's effective execution the overriding imperative of
public service. Keeping this truism as its unfailing objective, the Commission has attempted to fulfill its Constitutional mandate over the years, with varying degrees of success.
The fact that the
Constitution ensures the independence and autonomy of the Commission has helped it to discharge its duties in advising the Government without fear or favour. The Commission, on its part,
remains
ever
conscious
of
the
values
of
transparancy,
accountability, fair-play and justice. Along the way, the Commission has adapted its procedures to the changing times in response to exigencies of the emerging socio-economic realities in the country and the growing aspirations of the people, especially the youth. The constant effort to improve, upgrade and review by adopting best practices, continues.
It is in this context that we look forward eagerly to hearing our honoured guests this afternoon – Shri Narayanasamy, who has always been a friend and supporter of the Commission and our honoured Chief Guest, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
A warm welcome, once again.
*****