Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 21 called upon the bureaucrats to assess if a political party is using the taxpayers’ money to promote and advertise itself, create vote-banks appoint its own party workers in various organisatons. He asked the bureaucrats to question if a political party is making changes in policies so that new avenues of black money can be created for its masters.
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He said if bureaucracy lapses, then the country’s wealth will be looted, taxpayers’ money will be destroyed and the dreams of the country’s youth will be shattered.
Mr. Modi addressed civil servants on the occasion of the 16th Civil Services Day and also conferred the Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Public Administration.
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Recalling the words of Sardar Patel about the bureaucracy being the steel frame of India, the Prime Minister said that it is time to live up to the expectations and prevent the dreams of the youth from getting crushed along with taxpayers’ money from being destroyed.
“Political parties are very important in any democracy and it is also necessary. Every party has its own ideology, the Constitution has given this right to every party. But as a bureaucrat, as a government employee, there is a need to assess if a political party which has come to power, is using taxpayers’ money for the benefit of its party, or where is it being used for the benefit of the country. Is that political party using government money for the expansion of its party? Is that political party looting government money to create its own vote bank or is it working to make everyone’s life easier? Is that political party promoting itself with government money, or is it honestly making people aware? Is that political party appointing its own workers in various organisations or is it giving everyone an opportunity to get jobs in a transparent manner?” Mr. Modi asked.
Throwing light on decades of experience after India’s independence, the Prime Minister stated the importance of last-mile delivery in the implementation of government schemes. He gave examples of results from policies of previous governments and mentioned that there were more than 4 crore fake gas connections, more than 4 crore fake ration cards, and support was provided to 1 crore fictitious women and children by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, fake scholarships were offered to approximately 30 lakh youths by Ministry of Minority Welfare, and lakhs of fake accounts were created under MGNREGA to transfer the benefits of workers who never existed. He said a corrupt ecosystem had emerged in the country under the pretext of these fake beneficiaries. He credited the civil servants for the transformation that has taken place in the system where roughly 3 lakh crore rupees have been saved from landing in the wrong hands, which is now being used for the welfare of the poor.
He said the government is treating border villages as the first villages rather than the last villages. He said that for 100% saturation, we will need even more hard work and innovative solutions. He gave the example of departments asking for NoCs and information that is available somewhere in the system. He said for ease of living and ease of doing business we will have to find solutions for these.