New Delhi: P.K. Mishra, Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said on Thursday that modern governance demands collaboration more than hierarchy and expectations from current civil servants have now transitioned from incremental improvement to accelerated transformation.
Addressing the Plenary Session of UPSC’s Shatabdi Sammelan Programme in New Delhi, Dr Mishra said that the emergence of technology, urbanisation, climate challenges, and frequent disasters has reshaped the responsibilities of civil servants, and today’s governance demands collaboration more than hierarchy.
He said over the years, expectations have shifted from process compliance to outcome delivery, from incremental improvement to accelerated transformation, from siloed government departments to interoperable digital infrastructure, and from a state that delivers to citizens to a State that partners with citizens through Jan Bhagidari.
Mishra said that India stands at an inflexion point in its journey towards Viksit Bharat 2047.
He emphasised that the decades leading to Viksit Bharat must be guided by three principles: Repurposing civil services for a developmental, service oriented state; reimagining selection to identify deeply capable individuals and building a lifelong learning state.
He underscored that the shift in expectation from civil servants is visible across sectors such as digital payments, social protection, health, infrastructure, logistics, skilling, taxation, urban governance, and rural development, and is now extending into frontier areas where India seeks global leadership, including quantum technologies, space innovation, and the blue and green economies.
Mishra said that civil services stand at the heart of India’s journey towards Viksit Bharat. He highlighted that officers must think across domains, operate across sectors, and anchor their work in humility, integrity, and purpose.
He remarked that they must engage with data as confidently as with people, balance ethical judgment with administrative competence, and remain continuous learners even as they lead.
He said that over the past 100 years, UPSC has upheld merit, fairness, excellence, and integrity, maintaining dignity and credibility as one of the country’s most respected Constitutional bodies.
Mishra emphasised that this occasion is a tribute to the sagacity of the Constitution’s founding fathers and the visionaries who guided the Commission through its formative years.
(IANS)
