Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan said high expectations of people and constant scrutiny by civil society organisations and media are the major challenges faced by the current generation of civil service officers.
Addressing over 120 trainee officers from various branches of civil services at the inaugural of the 91 foundation course at Dr. MCHRD Institute here on Monday, the Governor said that compared to his generation of civil servants, this generation faced major challenges in overcoming negative public perception. The perception would change if the young officers discharged their duties with transparency and accountability.
“The negative perception is due to inaccessibility of officers and wide disparities between the haves and have-nots, and that the officers were not catering to the most deserving. Be available to people and reach the un-reached to ensure inclusive development,” he said.
Emphasising on integrity in professional as well as personal life, he said there was a perception in the society that corruption was rampant and there was trust deficit towards civil servants. The Pay Commission had been generous and the government took care of every need of the officers.
There was no need to make more money than what the government gave the officers.
The ultimate goal of every officer should be to retire gracefully with head holding high and by keeping the fraternity together, he said.
Mr. Narasimhan said human rights did not apply to one segment of population alone, and it was for every one, including the officers. Loss of life of either an officer, terrorist or agitator due to any act would tantamount to human rights violation. The officers should be careful not to transgress human rights.
Emphasising that the officers should learn the art of living through positive attitude and work-life balance, the Governor asked them to have a sense of humour. Spending quality and private time with family would give one energy to focus better on work and reduce the stress, he said, sharing his own personal experience.
Earlier, Vinod Kumar Agarwal, director general, MCHRD said that the 15-week foundation course would have both academic and non-academic inputs, and give exposure to the trainee officers in various tracks to develop the right attitude. Trainee officers, including about 40 women officers, from the Indian Police Service, Forest Service, Economic Service, Statistical and other services attended the inaugural session.
