Source: Government of India
To be in service of the largest democracy, home to one-sixth of humanity, is divine intervention in your lives.
You are required to handhold rather than generate handicaps. It is very easy to find a lapse, it is very easy to pick up. This procedure requirement has not been thorough, but if your attitude is to see things really at fast track, you must have a solution in mind, and primarily, the solution is immediate hand holding. Things will be amazing.
Let me tell you, being in service of Bharat, home to one-sixth of humanity, is a blessing. You may have on account of your credentials occasion to serve in several other areas, and maybe perhaps with larger fiscal gain, but you shall never have the satisfaction that you will have now. Satisfaction to live up to our civilizational ethos of service, satisfaction to nurture our nationalism, satisfaction to serve our motherland, and satisfaction to serve in conditions that is envy of everyone.
All your life you will be in close contact with nature because defence estates are bountiful, gifted by nature.
Second, you will be living and dealing with a community that is in uniform by and large. You will be dealing with people who are taken to uniform with a resolve to serve the motherland at the cost of making supreme sacrifice. Security of any nation is fundamental. It is said, security is best assured from a position of strength and position of strength is secured by level of preparation and preparation these days, you have to be ahead of times.
You have to think of next-gen equipment in every field and now the situation is so dramatically changed that conventional warfare has taken back seat.
You will have to deal with many strategic challenges generated also by disruptive technologies. Therefore, you will have to keep on learning while your training is well made out, your exposure is remarkable but much of it you will have to self-learn also. Learning never stops but in your service particularly, you have to be always learning because there is paradigm shift when it comes to auditing, budgeting, account handling, effective transparency, accountability.
If you get into a groove and get obsessed, only to find procedural lapses as indicated by the Defence Secretary and do not have a solution in mind. You cannot imagine the kind of damage we make. Of course, it will have cascading impact, a deleterious impact on our preparedness.
You are an ancient guardian of economic discipline. I strongly advocate that there must be meticulous, scrupulous adherence to fiscal prudence, frugality but this should not come at the cost or compromising efficiency and efficiency lies the fiscal utilisation of resources. When resources are allocated and in your case the allocation is indeed 13% to 14% of the budget. If you delay it the Nation suffers.
Given the security clime in our neighborhood, given the challenges we have, and given the challenges that we are living in times where conflagration in any part of the globe, Ukraine-Russia, Israel-Hamas, we were impeccable, and therefore, the level of preparation now has become much beyond what you may be having in your mind.
Good thing is that our nation is getting prepared. It started after a long time with acquisition of Rafale, but now things are on track, backlog is being made up. The Defence Secretary is seat of the matter, so is the CDS and the three Chiefs, but your mindset will be determinative.
While I would say always keep the nation first, have unwavering commitment to the nation, but this cannot be just an idea. You have to fructify that idea day in and day out. If you look around, while it is your ordainment by virtue of being public servants to ensure fiscal discipline, enabling operational efficiency, you also have to look around what as individuals you can do. For example, it is said and it is historical fact established, the morale of the armed forces is determined by the care we have for our veterans. If veterans are in good morale, those who serve on the frontiers or otherwise look up.
You have a deep connect with the veterans, pensioners. There are two connects that you have and I feel very emotively about it because I come from a place called Chittorgarh. I couldn’t get into the uniform on account of my right eye not being well. So, as Rajya Sabha Chairman, I mostly look to the government on the right side, but my heart is on the left side, where the opposition is there. So, you will have to have absolute empathy for pensioners. Never ever create a problem in disbursement of the pension.
I am so happy and delighted and I came to know about it that technological upgradation has resulted in seamless delivery with expedition but still there will be issues and issues are bound to be there. We will never have a system where there will be no issues interdepartmental or with pensioners.
Have empathy, act with them with a sense of devotion. All of them are like parents for you, senior citizens, our veterans. hand-hold them, if they physically interface with you, will go a long way. Not only they will bless you, by word of mouth, a message will permeate all throughout. They are not the people who are retired, they are pensioners. They will never be tired of serving the nation in whatever form they are. This blessed, distinguished, premium category of human resource you will be interacting with.
No one has fancy for people who deal with finance. No one is in love with the auditors. There is an element of fear sometimes but now the mindset must change because Integrity has been generated by and large on account of technology. Much has been plugged in the entire system, most of yours but I would particularly urge, while auditing others, never hesitate to self-audit.
As young boys and girls, you must exemplify by conduct, discipline and decorum, that not only you are different, you are cut out to make a difference and that difference would add up to the nation being different.
There will always be challenges, but I can assure you, law full route of integrity is the safest route. Shortcuts are very tempting; sometimes, they are too tempting to be resisted but when challenges comes, a shortcut, rather than being the shortest distance between two points, turns out to be the longest intractable with headwinds and air pockets. Sometimes, negotiating is never-ending.
Therefore, financial integrity is absolute essence; it is your nectar. Financial integrity once compromised, you lose it forever; you can never repair and therefore, develop a mechanism in life of happiness and satisfaction that do not measure yourself comparing those who are in private sector. The limousine may also look, very attractive to you but if you get into their role you will find your life is much happier more rewarding more satisfying.
The best answer is, ‘I don’t know.’ Never guess, Never fear failure. Never fear that you have lack of knowledge, no one is encyclopedic. There will be people who will tell you, yes, you are nice boy, nice girl. You don’t know, but you are urge to live. You have the courage and conviction to say, I am not ready at the moment, give me a day’s time. Maybe the superior, may at that point of time will not appreciate. But to cover up that fault by something which cannot be tenable. You must not adopt.
As individuals, I will invite you that you must be good citizens of the country while people in our country focus on rights and we have fundamental rights, I would beseech all of you to first carefully go through fundamental duties that are in part 4A of the Constitution. Many people ask me, what individuals can we do? I will here give you some tips.
One, if the Prime Minister initiated a clarion call for ‘Ek Ped Maa ke Naam’, imagine the difference it is making. If everyone takes it seriously, and I include everyone, including a child, then there would be saplings of 1.4 billion. You will be living in a state where you can make your difference. Please do that.
I would want you to take note, get imbibe and practice five civilizational values.
One, strengthening of family ties, family values. Being connected with a family. दादा-दादी, नाना-नानी को जब पता लगता है की उनको फ़ोन कर दिया, उनसे बात हो गई| उनको जीवन के अंदर आनंद लेने का एक पल मिल जाता है|
Make it a priority, believe in environmental awareness and sustainable living. These are not words. As individuals you can contribute for it. Embrace indigenous knowledge, स्वेदेशी, economic self-alliance. Be Vocal for Local. I’ll tell you, avoidable imports in this country are huge drain on finance, to the extent of billions of dollars. These avoidable imports are in the shape of shoes, socks, trousers, coat, shirts, carpets, furniture, toys, candles, what not.
Second aspect is that when we engage into use of avoidable foreign items imported into the country, we are depriving our people of work. This small gesture you can do. I’ll be Vocal for Local; I’ll go for indigenous product when it comes for my use. State actors can’t do it. You are a discerning young mind. WTO will come into play. It is very difficult to evolve a policy for that. But if people take to a policy by their habit, a designed habit, inculcated habit, it will make a difference.
Forged in unity and inclusivity amidst mass diversity. For 5,000 years we have had inclusivity, we have had inclusivity, but the challenge to inclusivity was extreme.
Murderers came, invaders came. They ravaged our culture, our religious places. We stood our ground but time has come now to keep nation’s interest always first, fostering unity, foster the brotherhood, and that is required because if you find someone not subscribing to our values, not believing in the nation. You must have capacity to effect change of mindset, and if not, make your presence felt. The nation first has to be there.
Everyone has civic duties to perform. I have noticed myself, no Indian who left India for abroad, threw a banana skin out of a running vehicle. No one has done it, and landing here back, सड़क तो हमारी है, हमारा garbage है, फेकेंगे but Prime Minister gave a call Swachh Bharat.
Now people don’t do it. Look at it. If we become a disciplined nation, things will be different. You youngsters must know our history. You are lucky to be living at a time when India is the fastest growing economy in the world. No nation has witnessed the kind of exponential economic upsurge, infrastructure growth, deep digitization, technological penetration, and facilities unheard of in the villages. Cooking gas, toilet, internet, road connectivity. Light in the house, pipe water is on the way, no one thought of it. So we are a nation full of hope and possibility.
In that nation you have the privileged honour to be public servants, but comes along with this another challenge that the nation is most aspirational. People have tasted development. Therefore, your duty you must always ensure before you leave the office. There should be no avoidable pendency on your table. If you make it your Dharma, it will take you a long way.
The armed forces are counting on you, the future generations are counting on you. My best wishes for all your future endeavors and always be positive. Shed negativity in the process if you can spare time to read our scriptures, Vedas, Gita, Epics, Ramayan, Mahabharata. I am not getting religious, I am saying they define sublimity of secularism.
Thank you so much.
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JK/RC/SM
