Giving a pep talk to civil servants, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday asked them to be innovative and quick, saying people resent “apathy, sloth and corruption” at any level of government more than ever before.
Doing some plain-speaking at the first annual conference of Chief Secretaries here, he said there was clamour for accountability from all quarters -- the legislature, the judiciary and the media.
“The rising expectations of the people make them impatient with the speed at which we can deliver results.
People today resent apathy, sloth and corruption in any form and at any level of government more than ever before,” he told the two-day meet.
He said “while there is unprecedented optimism in the country about our prospects for the future, there are also new challenges that we as administrators face.”
“Governance today has become extremely complex,” he noted.
Dwelling on the security scenario, the Prime Minister said terrorism, insurgency and extremism needed to be tackled with a firm but effective and sensitive hand.
“It is one of the primary responsibilities of any government to ensure the rule of law... an atmosphere of peace and communal harmony is also a pre-requisite for rapid economic growth, he said.
Observing that economic reforms over the last 20 years have enabled the country to become one of the fastest growing economies in the world, he said the country has the resilience to deal and meet the challenge of crises as “our response to the recent global downturn shows”.
