Impartial, non-political bureaucracy important for informed decision making: Mukherjee

A proficiently managed public civil service is the key to ensuring good governance and efficient delivery of services to the people, said President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday.

Delivering the fourth Lecture on the ocassion of the foundation day of the Union Public Service Commission, Mukherjee said: "Civil services play the vital role of enforcing democratic values and assisting the government to serve the nation. The primary commitment of civil servants who serve for more than three decades is to the people."

"The job of civil servants is to give correct advice to the political leadership," he added.

Underlining the importance of having an impartial and non-political bureaucracy, Mukherjee said that informed decision making could only be achieved through realistic assessments.

"Transparency, accountablity are basic pillars of good governance. Transparency enhances predictability and enables the common man to take part in decision making," the president said.

He asked all stake holders to have a holistic view to ensure good governance and timely delivery of services to the people.

"Governance has taken a paradigm shift towards rights based empowerment of the people. The Right to Information Act, the Rural Employment Gurantee Act, the Right to Education and the recent Food Secutity Act are major milestones in this direction," Mukherjee said.