Good evening everyone!
There is no one in the country who does not aspire to be a part of civil services. He / She may have any background rural, semi-urban, urban, because it is taken to be a premium service.
A great change that has taken place in recent times is that every service has now become very important. There was a time when people used to grade services, the world has changed so fast that every service has become an epicenter of power, innovation, creativity and contribution. The Indian Postal Service also has enormous potential.
It is a delightful moment for me that I am interacting with young minds that inspire confidence and who will contribute towards the upward trajectory of the nation.
Our Bharat is on the rise as never before and the rise is unstoppable. The rise is reflected on the global horizon and it is indicated by statistics, you all are part of that rise. The rise is fast and you have to make it faster. The rise has to climax in regaining our age old position, thousands of years ago we were at peak, you will help us to be at peak.
Your service is the most effective transformational mechanism in the largest democracy of 1.4 billion people. As a means of communication and dissemination of information, one thing is certain, every inch of this country today is covered by Dakiya and Patwari. They have their eyes and ears on the ground. This is the fastest mechanism of knowing about an area. Nowhere in the world you have such a robust mechanism which we have here in India. Therefore you have got an opportunity to serve 1.4 billion people.
This network is in everybody’s mind, you will have vivid recollection, in every village or place, the Post office is the center of activity. One would know the postman as one would know the representative of the people. There was a time, when I was young and so over the people on the dias, डाकिए को लेकर पिक्चर बनती थी, डाकिए का बहुत बड़ा मतलब था, now the world has changed so has your service.
You are now the most effective mechanism of inclusive growth. If we talk in terms of financial inclusions, for making available services to the people who are in the last row, as was indicated by one of the training officers, there can be no better mechanism to exploit the infrastructure and human resource, which you have.
There are several products which you can add easily with confidence because when a person goes to any other theater, he has to be self conscious and it does not have a personal feeling, generate reciprocal accountability or transparency, but for the same service a person goes to the post office, let’s say for making a deposit, for getting an insurance, he has greater confidence that it is my post office, I own the post office, I can go anytime and talk to any man and there is no question of leakage nothing has to be plagued.
It is a center where you can think out of the box as there are several government services that are required to be made available to the people at large, if you take an innovative approach a post office can be a center of information which will be most effective, social media can’t beat that because of the kind of comfort and, synergistic approach, the two are in sync. Entering into the post office can be a method of changing India. Making people aware of the services to which they are entitled is happening at a massive scale. It is delivery of service which is important, one delivery is people get money directly digital mechanism has been extremely affirmative in this area.
I can share with you statistics, in 2022, digital transfers in our country were 1.5 trillion USD. This accounted for 46% of the entire world. If you take USA, UK, France and Germany together and multiply by four, still we are ahead, that is a digital revolution impacting everyone.
Now, I make a different point, it takes the two way traffic, this digital attainment which the world is applauding, which is changing the profile of this country and has put the country in the defining moment of growth, is not one sided, there is an urgency to do it, but the person has to receive it as well. So, look at our DNA,
look at how quickly we pick up skills. Look at how inclusive banking has helped us, you have a great role to play.
We Indians are regarded globally as geniuses, as a class. Wherever we go we excel in that area, regime or a field. We are too quick to learn things. Internet usage, we have 700 million internet users, and per data consumption in 2022 was more than the USA and China taken together.
All this has been facilitated by the emergence of an ecosystem that allows every young mind to fully exploit the talent and potential to accomplish what they want to do. I would therefore urge you to have a mechanism whereby you show passion, mission and compassion to change the lives of people.
Nothing can be more rewarding , nothing can be more spiritual, Nothing can be more effective as a mechanism to happiness than to give happiness to those who otherwise have lost hope.
Your service has a great role to play in culture and heritage, do it. There were situations when I was in the State of West Bengal as Governor ..the Postmaster General I attended all their functions. The area of the Postmaster General was all the North-eastern states but every program was so enlightening, they took note of every development of the country, historical, culture and that something you have to be involved with.
September 2022, was the time when it was declared that India has become the fifth largest global economy overtaking erstwhile colonial rulers, the UK. By the turn of the decade, we will be the third largest economy. This is on account of the steps that are taken on the grassroot. Your service is directly connected to those who were earlier out of reach, but they were only under your reach. When India was deficient in several services, it was not deficient in Postal service. A postcard would reach every nook and corner.
I recollect my days when I was admitted on scholarship, for Sainik School, Chittorgarh. My mother was extremely worried and she was having a medical problem also, so whenever we used to come to school after the vacation, she would give me a bundle of postcards and it was my duty to post a postcard everyday. So my mother would be receiving a postcard everyday ki मैं ठीक हूं.. that is the communication in-depth approach of the Postal department.
Friends, if you want to perform, you will have to think out of the box, everyday has to be a day of learning. You have come from prestigious institutions, IIT’s IIFT, engineering colleges, legal background from varied regions. You therefore have the capacity to think out of the box. Your capacity to innovate, to engage in new ways of helping people to the people around you. In the process you are the best and the most effective person to inculcate in our people are habit of believing in nationalism.
I will give a small illustration, every post office would have fundamental duties, now this is amazing, our constitution was amended and a new part was added, Part IV(A), Fundamental Duties, initially there were ten fundamental duties, now there are eleven. Now, if anyone is reading them or someone talking about them, no argument is needed. You can change the entire ecosystem.
Likewise, in tree plantation you can change the entire ecosystem. How we have to maintain decorum and discipline, avoid plastic, so I would strongly urge, to kindly think out of the box.
Don’t allow an idea in your mind and rest it there. Share that idea with others, we are living in times where you are equipped to make services available at the doorstep. It is very difficult to create the kind of infrastructure that you have.
That kind of infrastructure has to be fully exploited, optimally used for larger welfare.
I have no doubt that each of you will be an agent of change. I have no doubt each of you will be an ambassador of growth. I am certain that each of you will be a warrior in Amrit Kaal, to take our country forward when it celebrates the centenary of independence.
I would also make one reflection, look all around, the great thought leaders, the people who have created history, they left too early, still they left an indelible mark, we remember them.
I would end by quoting Swami Vivekananda ji
“Take up one idea, make that one idea your life, think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves and every part of your body be full of that idea and just leave every other idea alone, this is the way to success”.
Why did I tell you this? I have had the good fortune and occasion to address the officials on probation from various services IAS, IPS, IIS , IFS etc. Each service has a role to play, which others cannot play and is envy of others. Have you not seen great personalities in the world, going from metro cities, urban centers, centers of great economic growth to villages to make a difference? For you it is natural. Your work will count a lot in the area where you will be functioning, so never get demotivated, never get an impression of this service.. Perhaps it could have been another service.
So, young boys and girls, for me it is a memorable moment. What has really stuck me is your credentials, which are impeccable, credentials that are the envy of everyone, credentials that can launch you in any other field, credentials that can take you overseas, credentials that can get you a little more purse, but what you have got is Unique and you know it. Because the competition we saw you through, the number of participants was so large, you have been selected out of that very fiercest competition that the globe has ever seen. So my congratulations to everyone of you.
Be ever happy, no tension, no stress, have an ambition which is good for your family, wholesome for society and contribute to national growth.
Thank you so much, be ever blessed.
MS/JK/RC
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