Civil servants should stand by their conviction at the face of civil society protests, said Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan here on Monday.
In his speech at the inauguration of special foundation course for All India Service, Central Civil Servants and IES officers, the Governor asked young civil servants to prevent civil society from dictating terms to them.
“The civil society is not always right. Mostly it is wrong. So you should stand by your conviction,” Mr. Narasimhan told the young officers.
The governor also asked the lot of 141 young civil servants who were present at the Dr. Marri Channa Reddy Human Resource Development Institute for training to be alert on misuse of Right to Information (RTI) Act.
“Today RTI is being used to settle individual scores. There is a need to re-look the RTI Act in its entirety to adapt it to become a tool for people’s good,” he said. The governor further asked young officers to do more field work instead of depending blindly on statistics. “Civil servants should be accessible to lay people,” he said. All India Services (AIS) officers should initiate policies that will ensure food security, transparent rehabilitation policy, quality of education and better health care, he added.
The institute has been running foundation course for AIS, India Engineering Services and Indian Statistical Services examination trainees since 2008. Out of the 141 officers who are attending the current batch of the foundation course, 40 are women.
The candidates are mostly from 2012-2013 batches of All India Services. The course comprises academic and practical training apart from field trips and stamina training.
