PM asks IAS probationers to tackle corruption

NEW DELHI: Regretting that there was "lot of corruption" at political and administrative levels, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had a message for the upcoming bureaucrats in the country.
The PM said that the barriers of corruption must be tackled head on and quality of governance improved at all levels to build an India "worthy of our dreams.”
Addressing the 2006 batch of IAS probationers, Singh asked them to pay "particular attention" to the impact of government policies and measures on the welfare of the downtrodden, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, minorities, women and children and other disenfranchised sections of society.
Observing that the world respects India, he said wherever he went, people told him they want the country to succeed. "If there are barriers, there are barriers in our country, in our good governance, in our governance processes, the fact there is lot of corruption, both at the political level and at the administrative level. We must take it head on," the Prime Minister said.
He emphasised on the need for pursuing the path of development that was "socially just" and whose fruits of development were shared equitably as enshrined in the Constitution.
"The problems of scheduled tribes, the problems of scheduled castes, those who have been at the margins of subsistence for centuries and centuries...Unless we can lift these people, unless we can ensure that they are active partners in processes of development, I think we cannot be too sure of the strength of our economy, of the unity of our country," said the PM.
"I would lay particular emphasis to pay more and more emphasis to understanding of what are the gaps in our performance which so far have created an environment where the processes of growth and development have not been shared equitably," the Prime Minster said.
Asking IAS probationers to be sensitive to the lack of educational and healthcare facilities, the Prime Minister asked them to "understand the complexity of the processes of social and economic change" which could be used as an input in designing policies and programmes.
The Prime Minister said the government was in the process of implementing five or six "very important development programmes" which included the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme.
"Our ambition is that in the next two to three years, it should spread to all rural districts of our country... We may not abolish poverty but we would have succeeded in softening the harsh edges of extreme poverty," he said.
He listed programmes like Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, rural healthcare system and Urban Renewal Mission which, if implemented, would turn the country into a "proud nation."
"...And you are privileged to be serving our country at a very crucial phase of our development. India is now recognised all over the world as one of the fastest moving economies. If India succeeds, I think that would be a unique way of telling the world democracy and development are compatible," said the Prime Minister.