Arunachal Pradesh CM Pema Khandu addressing the gathering. Image: Northeast Now
CM Pema Khandu (File image)

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Friday stressed on having separate civil service cadre for the state.

The state is presently a part of the AGMUT cadre and is shared by Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and the Union territories.

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The demand of Khandu comes almost a month after Governor Brig (Retd) BD Mishra had requested Union minister Jitendra Singh to agree to the demand of the Arunachal Pradesh State government.

Stressing further he said the posting of a non-permanent IAS/IPS officer at higher bureaucracy causes institutional memory loss that slows down the pace of development.

“Since IAS officers are spread all over the country and hails from different regions, caste and creed, they can play an effective role in binding the country together,” Khandu said while addressing the valedictory function of the IAS officers’ mid-career training at LBS National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie, Uttarakhand.

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He said Sardar Patel had once called IAS the ‘steel frame’ of the country’s government machinery and hence the role and responsibility of IAS officers being enormous.

“Times are changing and the IAS officers must keep themselves updated with the latest trend and be ready to adapt to changes,” Khandu said.

“The mid-career training programme is essential to help them adapt to such changes,” he added.

Khandu said political leaders change every five years but officials in the bureaucracy are for a longer period of time and hence the role of IAS officers assumes greater importance in the development of the country.

He urged the IAS officers to work always keeping in mind the welfare of the country and its poorest section. He urged them to keep themselves connected with ground realities and always rely on innovation for solutions.

Khandu on the occasion also gave away the awards and certificates to the IAS officers who had completed the mid-career training programme.

He also felicitated the training academy director Sanjeev Chopra.

The chief minister later addressed the 2019 batch of IAS officers undergoing their foundation course.

Interacting with the IAS trainees, Khandu briefly spoke about Arunachal and Northeast as a whole.

The chief minister said Arunachal is known as the ‘Jai Hind’ state as this slogan is commonly heard in this part of the country.

“Development may not have fully reached Arunachal, but patriotic spirit runs high in the veins of the people here,” he said.

The speech was followed by a question and answer session where the young trainees questioned the chief minister on various important issues relating to Arunachal.

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Damien Lepcha is Northeast Now Correspondent in Arunachal Pradesh. He can be reached at: [email protected]