Spend time with family and pep up: Modi to IAS officers

New Delhi, April 22: Addressing the civil servants at the 9th Civil Services Day function at Vigyan Bhawan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that quality family time was essential for a good day's work. On a light note, Narendra Modi advised bureaucrats to get rid of a robotic life and bring some change.

"You are very good at time management but do you spend quality time with your family. Please think about this," he said.

He said that a grumpy bureaucratic system would affect the government and the systems. Asking officers not to look withered in office, Modi said,"It is not that your life should become like a file. If a government is there, files will be there, there is no alternative. It (file) is your 2nd 'ardhang' (better half). If you do not care about life, it will get stuck in files."

He further added that unless and until an officer is happy and satisfied in his personal life, he will fail to have ideas of his own at office. "We are not here to just place regulations into place, but also innovate and modernise them for changing times and demands."

He asked the officers to follow the principle of 'Sheelam Param Bhushanam' (character is the highest virtue), which is also the motto of the Mussoorie-based training institute.

Asking the audience to value their life, Modi said life without enjoying it is colourless. "A life full of tension cannot achieve anything, especially when you have to run the nation... You are very good at time management but do you spend quality time with your family? Please think about this," he said.

He said that the young officers will have to gear up for an unforseen responsibility that includes technical and economic development.

OneIndia News