Empower people through legally backed entitlements: Prez

President Pranab Mukherjee today said the philosophy of development in recent times is to empower people through entitlements which are backed by legal guarantees.
Mukherjee said this to a group of Probationers of Indian Postal Service (2010-13 batch) and Indian P&T Accounts and Finance Service (2011-13 batch) who called on him at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Addressing the probationers, the President said they were entering government service at a time of great flux and ever increasing expectations of the citizenry from our public machinery.
"The environment today presents myriad challenges and opportunities at the same time. The state is today no longer merely responsible for the maintenance of law and order or the dispensation of justice. Its role today is far more pro-active and far more inclusive in that it has to promote growth with equity.

"The philosophy of development today is empowerment of people through entitlements which are backed by legal guarantees," a Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson said quoting Mukherjee.
The President said as the nature and scope of the activities of the State changes, the role of its administration assumes greater importance such as Right to Information and Right to Education.
"Therefore, the greatest challenge before the civil servants today is to adjust to this new role of the government," he said.
The President asked the officer trainees to be the agents of the change which they wish to see in their society and country, the spokesperson added.