The Vice President, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu, today called for a moral resurgence of civil services in the country to improve the delivery of services to the common man and to ensure the fruits of development reach the people.
The Vice President was speaking at the release of the book, ‘Public Service Ethics’ written by Shri Prabhat Kumar, former Governor of Jharkhand and former Cabinet Secretary to the Government of India, at Upa-Rashtrapati Nivas today. Shri Naidu observed that there is a general decline in the ethical values in society and called for a broad-based social movement for a ‘Naitik Bharat’ or ‘Ethical India’.
He urged for zero tolerance towards corruption and called for total transparency and accountability at all levels of governance. He has mentioned that corruption eats into the heart of the democracy. Further, he stressed the need for stringent and prompt action under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) against erring civil servants and public representatives.
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At the same time, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu warned that civil servants who take bona fide proactive measures should not be discouraged or harassed. Further, he added.
While corrupt civil servants must be strictly dealt with, we must not discourage officials from taking bold decisions in the larger public interest.
The Vice President releasing the book ‘Public Service Ethics – A Quest for Naitik Bharat’ by Shri Prabhat Kumar published by IC Centre for Governance. The book deals with ethics in governance and public service and proposes a collective quest for 'Naitik Bharat'. #Governance pic.twitter.com/DRa9cfpyWF
— Vice President of India (@VPIndia) December 5, 2021
He has also celebrated the achievements of honest civil servants and recognizing their contributions towards the society. He advised the media to highlight such contributions of local civil servants and encourage them. Further, the Vice President also touched upon the importance of value-based training to all civil servants to ensure probity in public life. He said that professional ethics should be an integral component in all the training courses and called for a comprehensive Code of Ethics for civil servants, based on the recommendations of the 2nd Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC).
He elaborated that an ideal officer should ensure zero pendency of issues in his purview, also, must display the highest qualities of probity and integrity in office, be proactive in taking the measures of the government to the people, and above all be sympathetic to the cause of marginalised sections.
In his earlier message, The Vice President, Shri M Venkaiah Naidu today called for providing equal property rights to women and highlighted the importance of fully empowering them for the country to make progress.