Need to bolster civil services, subject it to social audit: CM

Thiruvananthapuram: While the civil services have to be strengthened in order to ensure service delivery to the public, the civil services have also to be subjected to social audit, said chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan here on Tuesday.
“We need an approach by linking both these sides. On one side, there should be proper implementation, while on the other, there should be proper examination,” said the chief minister, while inaugurating a workshop organized by NGO Union and Kerala Gazetted Officers’ Association (KGOA) on the topic “role of civil services in creating a new Kerala”. He said that the government’s functioning is discharged through the civil services and the primary intention should be to serve the public.
Vijayan said that the functioning of the civil services is based on acts and rules which are meant for the public. If there is any act or rule which is against public interest or the state’s interest, those cannot be continued. “There could be acts that are irrelevant. Government is taking steps to repeal such acts and rules. When you (civil servants) come across such acts and rules, you should bring them to the government’s attention,” he said.
Referring to the government’s latest initiative of offering doorstep services, he said that the government aims at supporting the sections of the society, including the marginalized, bedridden, physically challenged, etc. Stating that there should be changes in age-old practices, he said that in all applications received online, a decision should be taken within five days.
Vijayan said that more than 500 services of 60 departments are now available in a single portal, which has brought in a major change.
He said that the strengthening of civil services is unavoidable as they are an integral part of governance. But if we take a general picture of civil services in the country, we get a different picture. “An experiment is going on in the country to weaken civil services. This experiment, though at its peak, had begun long ago. It was part of embracing globalization by the country that such a situation for civil services began,” he said.
Pointing out the impact of globalization on civil services, he said that the thought at present is that civil services itself is not required. It is being experimented on to what extent the civil services can be downsized. In the last five years, UPSC recruited only 16,000 employees, which shows how frightening the picture is, said Vijayan.
Referring to the scrapping of Planning Commission by the NDA government, the chief minister said that when the commission was functioning, it used to be a platform for various governments to raise their requirements. Due to its scrapping, planning itself became absent and the practice of listening to the states also became defunct. The Centre is deliberately withdrawing itself from various services.
Though the civil services and Leftist organisations had pointed out the dangers of globalization, only the benefits of globalization were projected then. Lashing out at both Congress- and the BJP-led governments at the Centre, he said that it was not the same team that began the globalisation policies and the ones implementing them now. “Presently, BJP is undertaking all the policies of globalization and liberalization more intensely. Both these parties are at fault,” he said.