Union Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Jitendra Singh on Sunday hailed the largest women representation in the history of Indian Administrative Services (IAS), with 74 women officers, making up 41 per cent of the 2023 batch of 180 officers, and credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for this development stating that he always has been a champion of women empowerment.
Interacting with IAS trainee officers of the 2023 batch here, the Minister attributed this landmark development to the visionary leadership of the Prime Minister under whose tenure women-led initiatives have gained unprecedented momentum.
“The Prime Minister has always been a champion of women empowerment. This record representation is a testament to his unwavering support for inclusive and progressive governance,” Singh said.
The Minister reflected on the inception of the Assistant Secretary Programme in 2015, calling it the Prime Minister’s brainchild to give young officers real-time governance exposure at the beginning of their careers.
“The programme has brought a resurgence of confidence among officers. During the pandemic, many of these officers performed remarkably when called upon for district-level crisis management,” he said.
As the initiative marks its 10th anniversary, Singh noted its outstanding impact on nurturing capable and confident civil servants.
He also praised the young average age (22–26 years) of the batch, which provides a long-span career trajectory to contribute to the nation. He urged the officers to stay technologically ahead and make full use of the iGOT Karmayogi platform, a digital learning ecosystem offering continuously updated capacity-building modules.
“You are fortunate to be in the best of times, when India is rapidly moving towards becoming Viksit Bharat @2047,” the Minister said.
Singh also expressed support for a more dynamic and flexible civil service ecosystem, where officers may be allowed to gain exposure outside government for a few years and return as domain specialists—a model that he termed “a win-win for both the officer and the government.”
On the issue of bridging the digital divide, the Minister called technology a great leveller, citing examples like the Swamitva Mission, which eliminates the need for revenue officials by leveraging drone-based property mapping.
He also stressed the importance of grievance redressal mechanisms, urging the trainees to study the CPGRAMS platform, which he described as a global benchmark.
“Nearly 26 lakh grievances have been disposed of with a 98 per cent resolution rate, most within 13 days,” Singh said.
The Minister urged the young civil servants to uphold the highest standards of integrity, accountability, and service, aligning their efforts with the spirit of Antyodaya—working for the last man in the queue.