New Delhi: 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 a 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".
PTI
First Published: Monday, February 01, 2010, 14:55