Modi urges civil servants to embrace reform, drive India’s development

New Delhi, Apr 21: Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged India’s civil servants to become enablers of growth and innovation, calling for a future-ready bureaucracy to drive the country’s vision of becoming a developed nation by 2047. Addressing civil servants at the 17th Civil Services Day at Vigyan Bhawan, Mr. Modi highlighted the need for accelerated reform, digital governance, and last-mile delivery. He stressed that the civil services must move beyond “rule book regulation” to actively support entrepreneurship, infrastructure development, and social welfare.

“This is not the time for incremental change. The next thousand years will be shaped by the decisions we make today,” he said, underlining the urgency to align India’s administrative machinery with rapid global and technological shifts. The event marked 75 years of India’s Constitution and the 150th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who had described civil servants as the “Steel Frame of India.” Mr. Modi invoked Patel’s legacy, urging bureaucrats to uphold integrity, innovation, and citizen-first governance.

Sixteen awards for excellence in public administration were conferred at the ceremony. The Prime Minister cited progress from remote districts under the Aspirational Blocks Programme, with improvements in health, sanitation, and water access. Calling for reform at all levels, state, district, and block, Modi pointed to removing over 40,000 compliance burdens and 3,400 legal decriminalisations as steps that improved India’s ease of doing business. He stressed that the bureaucracy must now aim for global standards in governance. Modi also flagged future challenges, from climate change to cybersecurity, and urged civil servants to use technology and data to enhance resilience and public service delivery. “Civil servants are not just administrators—they are architects of a new India,” he said, closing with a call to action rooted in his “Panch Pran” pledge for a developed India.