New Delhi, Apr 21: Jammu and Kashmir has bagged the Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration in the group category for successfully conducting the Panchyat elections in the state.
In a function held here on Saturday, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh gave away the award to Chief Secretary Madhav Lal, DGP Kuldeep Khoda and Chief Electoral Officer of the state and Home Secretary B R Sharma.
The award in the individual category was given to M. Manimekalai, IFS, and the then Ambassador of India in Libya for rendering selfless service to evacuate Indian nationals amidst civil war in that country.
Speaking on the occasion of Civil Services Day, Dr Singh exhorted the civil servants to take fair and objective decisions which should be designed and aimed to serve the best interests of the country. Their judgment should not be affected by the nature and colour of the political class.
He said that the significance of the day lies in sending out a message to the people that all in the administrative system are determined to making our civil services competent and professional and alive to the requirements of the 21st century.
Dr Singh felt that bureaucracy should keep pace with the fast changing technology and adopt more modern methods and practices. The civil servants should not shy away from taking decision for fear of decisions going wrong. The Government was committed to protecting them for any bonafide mistakes/errors, he said.
The Scientific Watershed Management in Gujarat was awarded in the Organization category. Ram Kumar, Chief Conservator of Forests Gujarat, received the award.
The award includes a medal, scroll and a cash amount of Rs 1 lakh. In case of a group, the total award money is Rs 5 lakh subject to a maximum of Rs 1 lakh per person. For an organization this is limited to Rs 5 lakh.
Union Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, V. Naraynasamy said that the need for improved public delivery system is imperative as people’s expectations from the civil servants have gone high. He said that as a step towards this direction, 27 Mission Mode projects covering different departments have been taken up under the e-governance initiative.

Lastupdate on : Sat, 21 Apr 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sat, 21 Apr 2012 18:30:00 GMT
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