upsc lectures on governance and public services - 1st december 2011

Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam www.abdulkalam.com

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3rd Annual Lecture of the UPSC Lecture Series on Governance

New Delhi 1 December 2011

Creative Leadership: Essence of good governance

“Before you do anything, stop and recall the face of the poorest most helpless destitute person

you have seen and ask yourself, “Is what I am about to do going to help him?”

…Mahatma Gandhi

I am delighted to give the 3rd Annual Lecture on

Governance and Public Service organized by Union Public

Service Commission (UPSC) to this audience who are part of

the governance system of our great Nation. During the last six

decades of Independence, India has established that her core

competence is in providing leadership to over one billion

people of a democratic country with multi religious, multi

lingual and multi cultural characteristics. UPSC has played an

important role in selecting and recommended the most

talented persons for appointment to various segments of our

National governance system. Over the last six decades UPSC

has selected nearly quarter of a million candidates, after

examining over forty-six million applicants which is equivalent

to the entire population of South Africa or England. UPSC has

inspite of various factors affecting societal dynamics, has

conducted examinations, interviews, personality tests and

recommending suitable candidate for various Services,

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particularly Civil Services dealing with district administration,

Law and Order, Agriculture Services, Communication Services,

Medical Services, Railway Services and Engineering Services

under this intense competition. I would like to congratulate

you for having a clean record of selecting the candidate for the

required task insulated from societal turbulence. Today I

would like to talk on the topic “Creative Leadership: Essence

of good governance”.

Problem cannot be our master – We Japanese will become the master of the problems

On 29th November night, I was returning from Seoul,

Republic of Korea to Delhi on a non-stop seven and half hours

flight after attending the Eminent Persons Group meeting

organized by the President of Republic of South Korea prior to

2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit. This meet was attended

by top experts in the nuclear field from different countries. The

mission of EPG is to establish safety and security guidelines

for 539 nuclear power plants spread all over the world. I am

not going to talk about the details of that meet, but I would like

to mention one incident which was narrated by Prof. Shinichi

Kitaoka, a Professor of Faculty of Law, University of Tokyo to

me and the EPG members. The professor was narrating the

whole scene, the combination of highest intensity earthquake

and the tsunami which affected the 40 years old Fukushima

nuclear power plant. He said, the world has gone through so

far three major nuclear power plant accidents. One in USA,

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one in former USSR and the latest in Japan. He said, in the

Japan accident, even though the Fukushima plant

experienced a major natural havoc leading to the major

accident of the nuclear power plant, there was no single

radiation induced casualty and there was no radiation

leakage. Of course, it has generated within Japan and also

many parts of the world, a fear about the type of safety in the

present and future shore-based nuclear power stations

situated in various parts of the world. The most profound

statement of Prof Kitaoka, was “two cities of Japan were

attacked by nuclear weapons in 1940s. It was a painful

tragedy, but Japanese citizens withstood boldly, challenged the

problem and within three decades, Japan got transformed into

the most industrialized nation in the world. Now, Fukushima

nuclear power plant problem is in front of us. We the Japanese

will not allow this problem to become our master. With

international cooperation, we the Japanese will become the

master of the problem, defeat the problem and the world will

see clean-green nuclear energy flourishing all over the place.”

Leadership is the essence of good governance

How to make the governance system of the country most

effective and ensure development of the nation which will

make and sustain the nation as an economically developed,

prosperous, happy and peaceful society in the world? For that

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what you need is to have creative leadership at all segments of

the governance of the nation.

Friends, I have seen three dreams which have taken

shape as vision, mission and realization. Space programme of

ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization), AGNI programme

of DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organization)

and PURA (Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas)

becoming the National Mission. Of course, these three

programmes succeeded in the midst of many challenges and

problems. I have worked in all these three areas. I would like

to convey to you what I have learnt on leadership from these

three programmes:

a. Leader must have a vision.

b. Leader must have passion to realize the vision.

c. Leader must be able to travel into an unexplored

path.

d. Leader must know how to manage a success and

failure.

e. Leader must have courage to take decisions.

f. Leader should have nobility in management.

g. Leader should be transparent in every action.

h. Leader becomes the master of the problem, defeats

the problem and succeeds.

j. Leader must work with integrity and succeed with

integrity.

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Let me illustrate these characteristics through our

national programmes.

Vision for self-sufficiency in food

The vision for the First Green Revolution emanated

during the 1970s from the political leadership of Shri C.

Subramaniam. With the Visionary leadership of Shri C.

Subramaniam, the team with the scientific leadership of Nobel

Laureate Dr. Norman Borlaugh and Dr. M.S. Swaminathan,

with the active support of Shri B. Sivaraman, Secretary

Agriculture, Dr. M.S. Swaminathan in partnership with

agricultural scientists and farmers liberated India from the

situation of what was called “ship to mouth existence”.

Through an effort of historical magnitude, India attained near

self-sufficiency in food through “Seed to Grain” mission. As

part of this first green revolution, the country has been able to

produce over 236 million tonnes of food grains per year now.

Of course, farmers played a pivotal role in working with

agricultural scientists in farm itself.

The political leadership and the scientific leadership has

been able to build the capacity among our scientists,

researchers and farmers to take up the mission of “second

green revolution” which is indeed a knowledge graduation

from characterization of soil to the matching of the seed with

the composition of the fertilizer, water management and

evolving pre-harvesting techniques for such conditions. The

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domain of a farmer’s work would enlarge from grain

production to food processing and marketing.

India has now embarked upon the Second Green

Revolution which will enable it to further increase the

productivity in the agricultural sector. By 2020 India would

require to produce over 340 million tonnes in view of

population growth and increased purchasing power. The

increase in the production would surmount many impeding

factors such as reduce availability of land, shortage of water

and reduced availability of agricultural workforce. Our

agricultural scientists and technologists in partnership with

farmers have to work for increasing the average productivity

per hectare has to be increased three times compared to

present productivity. The type of technologies needed would be

in the areas of development of seeds that would ensure high

yield varieties even under constraints of water and land.

Passion to realize the vision

Now let me describe to you an example of how passion to

realize the vision has facilitated the successful and on-time

implementation of a two billion dollar metro-rail project by the

Managing Director of a public sector organization.

The Delhi Metro Rail Project has given to the nation the

potential of executing a fast transportation system using high

technology with reliability through a time bound mission mode

operation. Delhi, the Capital of the country with over 20

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million population, has the distinction of having a world class

metro rail with frontline technologies. The work on the metro

rail commenced on 1st October 1998 and the first phase with

three lines covering 66 kms has been completed by December

2005. Today over all route length created by Delhi Metro is

around 190 Kms. Everyday, metro handle minimum

movement of 2 million passengers.

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has brought to the country,

the most advanced rail technologies for the first time. Here is a

leader who has passion and passion for excellence. The

notable gains to the country are, light weight stainless steel,

sleek, modern trains with pneumatic springs, regenerative

braking, public information display, wide vestibules and

automatic doors. The sophisticated coach technology which

was not available in the country so far, has been transferred to

M/s. Bharat Earth Movers Ltd., Bangalore, which is now

assembling these trains with progressive indigenization.

BEML is now in a position to supply train sets needed for

Phase-II of Delhi Metro Rail Project and meet the requirement

for Metros coming up in other cities of the country.

Mr. E. Sreedharan, the Managing Director of Delhi Metro

Rail Corporation has ensured that, all the scheduled sections

were completed by their target date or before and within their

respective budgets through his programme management skills.

The dedicated and transparent leadership backed up with

professional competence of Mr. Sreedharan has given to the

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nation, one of the best transportation systems of the world at

the most economic cost. He is a recipient of many national and

international awards. Also, he is in demand for undertaking

the development of metro system in different countries of the

world which he has politely declined due to pre-occupation

with committed Indian programmes.

Now I would like to talk about a leader who ventured to

travel in an unexplored path.

Traveling in unexplored path

I was fortunate to work with Prof. Vikram Sarabhai for

seven years and while closely working with him, I saw the

dawn of the vision for the space programme in a one page

statement. Witnessing the evolution of this one page by a

cosmic ray physicist, a great scientific mind and be a part of

the team which has been working ceaselessly for many years

to realize the vision have been of really great learning for me.

Also I am thrilled to see the famous vision statement of Prof

Vikram Sarabhai made in the year 1970 which states “India

with her mighty scientific knowledge and power house of

young, should build her own huge rocket systems (satellite

launch vehicles) and also build her own communication, remote

sensing and meteorological spacecraft and launch from her own

soil to enrich the Indian life in satellite communication, remote

sensing and meteorology. The projects selected in space

programme, are designed to meet the societal needs”. Total 150

transponders are there in the geo-synchronous orbit for

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providing connectivity to the nation. If I look at this vision

statement today, I am overwhelmed to see the results of this

statement. Today India can build any type of satellite launch

vehicle, any type of spacecraft and launch them from Indian

soil. India also has launched Chandrayaan and has

successfully placed the satellite in Lunar Orbit and now it is

preparing for manned missions to other planets. India has

proved that through space science and technology, we can

provide effective communication, resource mapping, disaster

predication and disaster management systems.

Now, I would like to give an incident which demonstrates

the characteristics of Dr. Vikram Sarabhai for traveling in an

unexplored path.

Purpose of life: It was during early 1960’s, the founder

of Indian Space Research Programme Prof. Vikram Sarabhai

with his team, had located a place technically most suited for

space research after considering many alternatives. The place

called Thumba in Kerala, was selected for space research as it

was near the magnetic equator, ideally suited for ionospheric

and electrojet research in upper atmosphere.

The major challenge for Prof Vikram Sarabhai was to get

the place in a specific area. As was normal, Prof. Vikram

Sarabhai approached the Kerala Government administrators

first. After seeing the profile of the land and the sea coast, the

view expressed was that, thousands of fishing folks lived there;

the place had an ancient St Mary Magdalene Church, Bishop’s

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House and a school. Hence it would be very difficult to give

this land and they were willing to provide land in an

alternative area. Similarly the political system also opined that

it would be a difficult situation due to the existence of

important institutions and the concern for people who were to

be relocated. However there was a suggestion to approach the

only person who could advise and help. That was “Rev Father

Peter Bernard Pereira” who was Bishop of the region. Prof

Vikram Sarabhai approached the Bishop on a Saturday

evening, I still remember. The meeting between the two

turned out to be historical. Many of us witnessed the event.

Rev Father exclaimed, “Oh Vikram, you are asking my

children’s abode, my abode and God’s abode. How is it

possible?” However, both had a unique quality that they

could smile even in difficult situations. Rev Father Peter

Bernard Pereira asked Prof. Vikram Sarabhai to come to

church on Sunday morning at 9.00 AM. Prof. Vikram Sarabhai

went to the church with his team again on Sunday. At that

time the prayer was progressing with the recitation of Bible by

Father Pereira. After the prayer was over, the Bishop invited

Prof. Vikram Sarabhai to come to the dais. The Rev Father

introduced Prof Vikram Sarabhai to the people, “Dear children,

here is a scientist, Prof. Vikram Sarabhai. What do sciences

do? All of us experience, including this church, the light from

electricity. I am able to talk to you through the mike which is

made possible by technology. The diagnosis and treatment to

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patients by doctors comes from medical sciences. Science

through technology enhances the comfort and quality of

human life. What do I do, as a preacher? I pray for you, for

your well being, for your peace. In short, what Vikram is doing

and what I am doing are the same - both science and

spirituality seek the Almighty’s blessings for human prosperity

in body and mind. Dear Children, Prof Vikram says, he would

build within a year, near the sea-coast, alternative facilities

to what we are having. Now dear children, can we give your

abode, can we give my abode, can we give the God’s abode for

a great scientific mission?” There was a total silence, a pin

drop silence. Then all of them got up and said ‘Amen’ which

made the whole church reverberate.

That was the church where we had our design centre,

where we started rocket assembly and the Bishop’s house was

our scientists’ working place. Later the Thumba Equatorial

Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) led to the establishment of

Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) and the space activities

transformed into multiple space centers throughout the

country. Now this church has become an important centre of

learning, where thousands of people learn about the dynamic

history of the space programme of India and the great minds

of a scientist and spiritual leader. Of course, the Thumba

citizens got the well equipped facilities, worshiping place and

educational centre in an alternate place at the right time.

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When I think of this event, I can see how enlightened

spiritual and scientific leaders can converge towards giving

reverence to the human life. Of course the birth of TERLS and

then VSSC gave the country the capability for launch vehicles,

spacecraft and space applications that have accelerated social

and economic development in India to unprecedented levels.

Today, among us, Prof Vikram Sarabhai is not there, Rev

Peter Bernard Pereira is not there, but those who are

responsible for creation and making flowers blossom will

themselves be a different kind of flower as described in the

Bhagwat Gita: "See the flower, how generously it

distributes perfume and honey. It gives to all, gives freely

of its love. When its work is done, it falls away quietly.

Try to be like the flower, unassuming despite all its

qualities". What a beautiful message, to the humanity on the

purpose of life reflected the spiritual component.

Managing success and failure

Three decades ago while I was working at ISRO, I had the

best of education which won't come from any university. I will

narrate that incident. I was given a task by Prof. Satish

Dhawan the then Chairman, ISRO to develop the first satellite

launch vehicle SLV-3, to put ROHINI Satellite in orbit. This

was one of the largest high technology space programmes

undertaken in 1973. The whole space technology community,

men and women, were geared up for this task. Thousands of

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scientists, engineers and technicians worked resulting in the

realization of the first SLV-3 launch on 10th August 1979.

SLV-3 took off in the early hours and the first stage worked

beautifully. Even though all stage rockets and systems

worked, the mission could not achieve its objectives, as the

control system in 2nd stage malfunctioned. Instead of being

placed in the orbit, the Rohini satellite went into Bay of

Bengal. The mission was a failure. There was a press

conference at Sriharikota, after the event. Prof. Dhawan took

me to the press conference. And there he announced that he

takes responsibility for not achieving the mission, even though

I was the project director and the mission director. When we

launched SLV-3 on 18th July 1980, successfully injecting the

Rohini Satellite in to the orbit, again there was a press

conference and Prof. Dhawan put me in the front to share the

success story with the press. What we learn from this event is

that the leader gives the credit for success to those who

worked for it, and leader absorbs and owns the responsibility

for the failure. This is the leadership. The scientific community

in India has the fortune to work with such leaders, which

resulted in many accomplishments. This success generated

great happiness among all my team members. This is an

important lesson for all youth who are aspiring to be

tomorrow’s leaders. The great lesson we learn: the leader in

any field, political, administrative, scientific, education,

industry, judiciary, or any other human activity, should have

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the creative leadership capacity and courage to absorb the

failure and give the successes to his or her team members.

This I learnt and learnt all the way.

Leader has the courage to take decision

Friends, I still remember a scene during May 1996. It

was 9 O’clock at night. I got a call from the then Prime

Minister’s House that I should meet the Prime Minister Shri

PV Narasimha Rao immediately. I met him just 2 days before

the announcement of General Election results. He told me

“Kalam, be ready with your team for the N-Test and I am going

to Tirupati. You wait for my authorization to go ahead with

the test. DRDO-DAE teams must be ready for action. Of

course the election result was quite different from what he

anticipated. I was busy in Chandipur missile range. I got a

call saying that I must meet immediately the Prime Minister

designate Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayeeji with Shri Narasimha

Raoji. I witnessed a unique situation. Shri Narasimha Raoji

the outgoing Prime Minister - asked me to brief the details of

N-programme to Shri Vajpayeeji, so that a smooth take over of

such a very important programme can take place. This

incident reveals the maturity and professional excellence of a

patriotic statesman who believed that the nation is bigger than

the political system. Of-course after taking over as Prime

Minister in 1998, the first task given by Shri Vajpayeeji to me

was to conduct the nuclear test at the earliest. Both these

leaders had the courage to take difficult decisions boldly, even

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though the consequences of such a decision have great

national and international significance.

Nobility in management

Friends, the next leader I would like to discuss is Prof

Brahm Prakash. When I was the Project Director of SLV3

programme, Prof. Brahm prakash – a great scientific leader

with nobility, was the Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space

Centre (VSSC), which integrated multiple institutions based on

the advice of Prof. Kamala Chowdhuri, a management guru

from IIM. Prof Brahm Prakash took hundreds of decisions for

the growth of space science and technology. One important

decision which I will always cherish was once a programme

such as SLV3 is sanctioned the multiple laboratories of

Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre and also the multiple centres

of ISRO including the Space Department have to work to

realize the stated goals of the programme as a team.

Particularly during 1973 – 1980, there was a tremendous

financial crunch and competing requirement from many small

projects. He converged all scientific and technological work to

be focused towards SLV3 and its satellite. When I say that

Prof. Brahm Prakash is famous for the evolution of

management with nobility, I would like to give a few instances.

He enabled for the first time evolution of a comprehensive

management plan for SLV-3 programme towards the mission

of putting the Rohini satellite in orbit. After my task team

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prepared the SLV3 management plan, in a period of 3 months

time, he arranged nearly fifteen brainstorming meetings of the

Space Scientific Committee (SSC). After discussion and

approval, this management plan was signed by Prof Brahm

Prakash and became the guiding spirit and working document

for the whole organization. This was also the beginning of

converting the national vision into mission mode programmes.

During the evolution of the management plan, I could see, how

multiple views emerged and how, many people were afraid of

losing individuality due to the main mission, thereby throwing

anger in the meetings. I could also see how Prof. Brahm

Prakash radiated with smile in the midst of continuous smoke

coming from the cigarette continuously being lit one after the

other. The anger, fear and prejudice have all disappeared in

the presence of his nobility in thinking. Today, the space

programme, launch vehicle, spacecraft, scientific experiments

and launch missions all are taking place in the centres of

Indian Space Research Organization in a cohesive and

cooperative manner. I learnt the hard way from this great

mighty soul “before starting any programme, it is essential to

have the project management plan with the details of, how to

steer the project during different phases of the project and

foresee the possible critical paths and possible solutions and

keeping time, performance and schedule as key factors.” I

thank this great mighty soul who evolved the concept of

management with nobility and was a very famous professor in

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metallurgy at the Indian Institute of Science. He was also a

pioneer for giving the country – nuclear material by

establishing the Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC).

Transparency in leadership

The actions to be taken by the government does not

reach the citizens in-time because of the complexity of the

decisions, length of implementation path and lack of

transparency. For this I would suggest a unique model which

is being practiced in Gujarat. Under this program,

approximately one lakh government officials, from the Chief

Minister to Taluka level staff from 15 Departments, along with

about 1582 agricultural scientists, and several other

stakeholders like civil society organisations, elected

representatives, farmers and women spend a month during

April/May in rural areas demonstrating the best of

technologies to farmers. Such initiatives indicate a strong

administrative will to ensure development reaches the rural

sector. Krushi Mahotsav tours all 18,600 villages of the state,

providing information and counselling on soil health, organic

farming, technology and inputs, irrigation, etc., besides

infusing a new spirit of change and mass mobilization. In

addition, the Gujarat Govt has instituted an e-governance

system linking the panchayat level, district HQs, and the state

govt leading to transparency and speed with the decision

making process.

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Work with integrity and succeed with integrity

On 22nd Nov 2011 I went to Jorhat for addressing the

World Tea Science Congress. Their I addressed the

Administrative and police officers of Jorhat and Dibrugarh

district which was organized by Mr R C Jain, DM Jorhat on

21st November evening. There I administered an oath to the

participants “I will work with integrity and succeed with

integrity”. The decibel level was very high when they said

“work with integrity” and decibel level went down when they

were repeating “succeed with integrity”. But next day, I saw

a very beautiful situation in the World Tea Science Congress in

the presence of CM of Assam and the Jorhat Adminsitrative

team. I saw in front of me the Chairman of Tea Board Mr

MGVK Bhanu an IAS officer, giving the introductory speech to

the participants of World Tea Science Congress. Mr Bhanu

said, “Yesterday, Dr.Kalam administered an oath to all the IAS

and IPS officers including myself”. I would to like to assure

you Dr Kalam that I have worked with integrity and succeeded

with integrity during the last 24 years as an IAS officer in

different parts of the State and the Centre. Now I am in the Tea

Board. I was Secretary to the CM of Assam”. I would like to

assure Dr. Kalam that I have tried to create a brand of moral

uprightness in all my tasks”. Shri Bhanu also mentioned that

he was thinking for the whole night “what he should be

remembered for” he said he would like to be remembered for

making India the largest producer of tea, and largest exporter

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of tea in the world. I am very happy to share this unique

experience. If every functionary of Govt of India has such a

vision and mission I am confident that we will get transformed

into a developed nation well before 2020.

Friends, so far I have discussed with you nine unique

dimensions of creative leadership for the governance. Here, let

me recall a profound saintly message to all of us by Maharishi

Patanjali 2500 years ago.

"When you are inspired by some great purpose, some

extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their

bounds. Your mind transcends limitations, your

consciousness expands in every direction, and you find

yourself in a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant

forces, faculties and talents come alive, and you discover

yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever

dreamt yourself to be."

Conclusion: Vision for the nation and governance

India has to transform into an economically developed

nation by the year 2020. This means our citizens can live in a

green clean environment without pollution, having prosperity

without poverty, peace without fear of war and a happy place

to the live for all citizens of the nation. I am sure, with nine

dimensions of creative leadership quality which will be the

foundation for our talented human power, that will transform

India into a performing nation. Indeed UPSC is a partner in

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this transformation by equipping the nation in multiple fields

with the best human power with the great quality “what can I

give” and “I will work with integrity and succeed with

integrity”.

Once again let me greet all the participants of this “UPSC

lecture series on governance”. My best wishes to all the

members of the UPSC success in their mission of providing the

best talent who will use their ideas and mind power for a

better India and the better world.

May God bless you.

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SPEECH OF HON’BLE CHAIRMAN

Respected Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, Hon’ble former President of India, Shri V. Narayanasamy, Hon’ble Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances & Pension, Hon’ble Members of the Commission, Distinguished Guests, Ladies & Gentlemen,

2. It is indeed a great honour and privilege that former Hon’ble President of India Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam has agreed to deliver the 3rd UPSC Foundation Day lecture on ‘Governance’. It gives me immense pleasure to welcome you all on this occasion.

3. India is a land of diversity. This diversity spans across culture, tradition, language, geography and the economic conditions of the people. Fulfillment of the basic needs of citizen remains the most important area of governance.

4. The Constitution put the responsibility on State for the welfare of the people. It is the duty of the State to secure to the people of India, living standards ensuring social security through public spending. It is through the members of civil services the programmes and the policies of government are implemented.

5. To my mind, the quality of Governance is determined by the relationship between Policy makers, (the political executive) implementing Bureaucrats and the citizen. The fundamental principle of creating a long lasting relationship, bordering on loyalty, depends on the appreciation of needs and wants of the each organ. Citizen satisfaction must be the touch stone of measurement. In a democracy, the policy makers get input directly from citizen as well as through bureaucracy. The honesty of this relationship is extremely important for right and unbiased policy decision. No link should bring extraneous factors while providing input. A need for imbibing moral values in the public servants is also vital. Good governance largely depends on correct manning of the public services by the people with right attitude and ethics. This is the role the framers of the Constitution envisaged for the Public Service Commissions.

6. Recognizing the role of the civil servants in the changed paradigm, the UPSC have been reviewing its methods and process of recruiting Civil Servants. The scheme of the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination has been revised from this year as per the recommendations of an Expert Committee. The changes have been well received as they provide the candidates a level playing field leading to improved quality of selection. Consistent with the need for selecting the right kind of person from huge

pool consisting of multiple languages, creeds, culture and communities, Commission has now constituted a high power Committee to suggest possible changes in the pattern of Civil Services (Main) Examination. I would like to make it very clear that the endeavor of the Commission is to ensure that all the candidates are judged on the basis of in-depth knowledge and understanding rather than information gathered at the last moment.

7. Like the changes made in the Civil Service examination, Commission is also looking at other examinations conducted by it to bring them in tune with the present scenario of country’s development and aspiration of people. Similarly, to improve the process of induction of ‘State Civil Service’ Officers and Non-state ‘Civil Service Officers’ to All India Service, Commission had recommended an alternative system to the Government (Department of Personnel and Training) which is under its active consideration.

8. Previously, a perception was created that a lot of delay takes place at Commission while the truth was that most of the proposal/cases received by us are half-baked and incomplete without even the basic documents required for examination. To tackle this problem, we have held workshops for the Ministries and Departments to sensitize them about the manner in which proposals are to be sent and the documents that are mandatory. Thereafter, we introduced a Single Window System whereby all the proposals are examined across the table and only complete ones are accepted. This system has been successful and we are in a position now to tender advice within the shortest possible time. To cite an example, the DPC proposals are now finalized in a record time of 43 days as against the normal time of 120 days and the Disciplinary cases are disposed in 2.8 months as against the normal disposal time of 6 months.

9. To improve governance, more and more use of information technology is required and existing procedures need thorough re-engineering. I may inform you that in the Union Public Service Commission there have been a gradual increase in the use of IT in our functions with a view to continuously enhancing system efficiency for better delivery of our responsibilities. Commission has now resorted to receiving applications through on-line mode for all its structured examinations and for direct recruitment selections, this is being introduced in a phased manner.

10. I am of the firm view that in future managing public services in an efficient way and to the satisfaction of citizens shall throw great challenges offering young persons an excitement they are looking for. In a globalised world, full of opportunities, to attract talented persons towards public service, the selection process has to be fast so as not to miss the bright ones to be snatched away by other sectors. Government may use appropriate communication strategy in order to attract the best to the public service.

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11. Educational Institutions and Media can play an important role in highlighting the contribution a public servant makes for the welfare of the people of this nation. There are great many public servants whose conduct, working style and commitment has been exemplary. We must respect them and also project them as role models for the benefit of the young aspirant.

12. ‘Transparency’ plays a key role in good governance. Commission believes that transparency in the functioning of the Organizations and their accountability to discharge constitutional obligations should be complementary and not mutually destructive in nature. Rather harmonization and balance between these two is the need of the day. Hon’ble the Supreme Court of India has stressed on this issue in the case of Central Board of Secondary Education & Anr. Vs Aditya Bandopadhyay & Ors. In Civil Appeal No. 6454 of 2011 and I quote – “The Act seeks to bring about a balance between two conflicting interests, as harmony between them is essential for preserving democracy. One is to bring about transparency and accountability by providing access to information under the control of public authorities. The other is to ensure that the revelation of information in actual practice does not conflict with other public interests which include efficient operation of the governments, optimum use of limited fiscal resources and preservation of confidentiality of sensitive information. Indiscriminate and impartial demands or directions under RTI Act for disclosure of all and sundry information (unrelated to transparency and accountability in the functioning of public authorities and eradication of corruption) would be counter-productive as it will adversely affect the efficiency of the administration and result in the executive getting bogged down with the non-productive work of collecting and furnishing information. The Act should not be allowed to be misused or abused, to become a tool to obstruct the national development and integration, or to destroy peace, tranquility and harmony among its citizens. Nor should it be converted into a tool of oppression or intimidation of honest officials striving to do their duty.” Unquote.

13. While the rights of citizens are important and all the efforts are to be made to ensure them, the integrity of processes and time tested procedures of Constitutional bodies as well as their exemplary accountability standards should be taken into account before deciding any issue.

14. For the Commission, every candidate is a potential Public Servant. The Commission ensures that nothing which would have made the candidate suitable has been left out of consideration and no injustice is done to anyone. However, in a competitive examination all cannot be selected and only the best will be successful. Acceptance of this fact will go a long way in ensuring quality selections on time, maintenance of public faith and

reduction in unnecessary litigations arising out of individual interest rather than public interest.

15. Through the National Conference of the Chairpersons of State Public Service Commissions, of which Chairman UPSC is the National Chairman, the best practices and procedures among all the StatePSCs are shared. The main theme of the 13th National Conference held at Mumbai has been ‘the role of PSCs in meeting the public aspiration and image building’. It is felt that persons of high standing, intellectual ability and impeccable reputation of integrity needs to be considered for manning the Constitutional positions of Chairman/Members of the Public Service Commissions.

16. Special care and considerations are given by the Commission to the needs of the people living in the North East region of the Country. In this regard, we had commissioned a study by IIM, Shillong which inter alia reveals that the overall awareness amongst the youth in the North-eastern egion about the Union Public Service Commission is very high. It further reveals that a considerable number (nearly 60%) of applicants visit the website of the Commission which is user friendly. A Workshop on the use of IT for the benefit especially of PSCs of North Eastern Region would be conducted next month at Kolkata.

17. To further the idea of promoting international cooperation, and to learn from each other’s expertise and best practices in recruiting public servants and assimilate them while developing the processes of recruitment suited to one’s own needs, UPSC had hosted the “Conference of the Chiefs of Public Service Commissions of SAARC countries, in 2010. Commission, have signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Public Service Commission of Canada and with Royal Civil Service Commission of the Royal Government of Bhutan in 2011 and another with Independent Administrative Reforms and Civil Service Commission of the Government of Afghanistan is on the anvil. A request for long-term cooperation with the Commission has been received from Civil Commission of Mongolia.

18. The glorious past enhances the Commission’s responsibility to strive for further betterment. The changing role of Government from a ‘controller’ to a ‘facilitator’ demands consequential changes in the role and functions of civil servant. It is the responsibility of UPSC to select such civil servants suitable to the changing times and I would like to assure you on this occasion that all efforts will be made in this direction. Gandhiji’s “Suraj” will be achieved if the bright young people selected through Commission find a right environment to work in Civil Service. JAI HIND

Welcome Speech by Hon'ble Member

Smt. Shashi Uban Tripathi

Hon'ble former President of India Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam,

Hon'ble Union Minister of State Shri V. Narayanasamy,

Hon'ble Chairman, UPSC Prof. D.P Agrawal,

Hon'ble Members of the UPSC,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies & Gentlemen.

It is with great pleasure that I welcome this distinguished

gathering to the 3rd Lecture in our Series on 'Governance and

Public Service' to be delivered by none other than the renowned

former President of India, Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam. The inaugural

lecture in this Series was delivered by Her Excellency, the President

of India and the Second by the Honourable Vice-President of India.

The subject of 'Governance and Public Service' has exercised

the minds and hearts of many a ruler and political thinker down the

ages and has been addressed by the likes of Kautilya and Ashoka

and Akbar. Today, its relevance is more critical than ever. On

behalf of the Commission and on my own behalf, I extend a warm

welcome to our Chief Guest who found time amidst his multifarious

preoccupations and travels to be with us this afternoon to speak on

this subject. We are deeply honoured.

Dr. Kalam is a special person. He can engage with a child as

readily as he does with a rocket scientist. He is equally at ease

with king and commoner. His most endearing quality is his childlike

simplicity and his genuine good nature. I have been fortunate to

travel with him on his State visits to Africa and Europe and saw

with amazement how he charmed all manner of people – from

Intellectuals to Journalists to students. He received a laudatory

press wherever he went and was even hailed as the 'Saint -

Scientist'. He was probably the only serving President who

understood Einstein's famous formula, E=MC2 ! I can not think of a

person better suited to speaking on the subject of Governance and

Public Service than Dr. Kalam. His pet project called PURA

(Providing Urban Facilities to Rural Areas) reflects his emotional

connection with common people and his vision for their well being

and empowerment.

This is a goal that the Commission shares with its Hon'ble

Chief Guest. Citizen's welfare is expected to be at heart of policy

formulation. It's effective execution the overriding imperative of

public service. Keeping this truism as its unfailing objective, the

Commission has attempted to fulfill its Constitutional mandate over

the years, with varying degrees of success. The fact that the

Constitution ensures the independence and autonomy of the

Commission has helped it to discharge its duties in advising the

Government without fear or favour. The Commission, on its part,

remains ever conscious of the values of transparancy,

accountability, fair-play and justice. Along the way, the Commission

has adapted its procedures to the changing times in response to

exigencies of the emerging socio-economic realities in the country

and the growing aspirations of the people, especially the youth.

The constant effort to improve, upgrade and review by adopting

best practices, continues.

It is in this context that we look forward eagerly to hearing

our honoured guests this afternoon – Shri Narayanasamy, who has

always been a friend and supporter of the Commission and our

honoured Chief Guest, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

A warm welcome, once again.

*****

upsc lectures on governance and public services - 1st december 2011

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