Simplification of rules crucial for India's innovation driven economic growth: Jitendra Singh
New Delhi: Union Minister
Jitendra Singh
on Thursday said the simplification of administrative rules and procedures are crucial for India's innovation driven economic growth.
Addressing a meeting of the
Department of Personnel and Training
(DoPT) with the secretaries of different ministries, he emphasised on "ease of procedures".
The meeting aimed to iron out, face to face, on the spot, long-standing administrative and personnel-related issues confronting various ministries and departments, said a statement issued by the Personnel Ministry.
Simplification of administrative rules is crucial for India's innovation driven economic growth through ease of R&D, said Singh, the minister of state for Personnel.
Emphasising the simplification of procedures, he said that many of the issues plaguing scientific institutions are rooted in inconsistencies in recruitment rules, service conditions, retirement ages etc. - which often vary in comparison to other civil servants and line ministries.
This ambiguity, he noted, leads to administrative conflicts, particularly since members of the scientific fraternity are engaged through a variety of modes such as national and international institutes, lateral entry and deputation frameworks.
Singh underlined the need for more uniformity in administrative mechanisms across all
science and technology departments
.
"These administrative roadblocks must be addressed if we are to promote
ease of doing research
and innovation in India. Science and Technology, coupled with research and innovation, are going to be the harbingers of India's economic growth," the minister said.
Singh, who is also the Science and Technology minister, said that he was fully aware of the administrative issues being faced by scientific departments.
He took the initiative to bring all concerned ministries onto the same page to resolve systemic bottlenecks and lay the groundwork for future policy reforms.
"This is a very important meeting because it sets the tone for inter-ministerial collaboration, the whole of the government approach to achieve the goal of Viksit Bharat @ 2047. We must shift away from the orthodox route, which takes a long time to channel solutions, and instead use such breakthrough meetings to resolve issues in real time." Singh said.
Highlighting the government's broader efforts toward administrative efficiency, the minister referred to the DoPT's recent drive to weed out more than 1,600 obsolete laws and simplify procedures for the benefit of citizens and the scientific community alike.
Singh credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for providing the visionary framework through the Viksit Bharat @ 2047 initiative, which recognises that administrative reform is a critical component of national development.
The minister said that administrative procedures should be as simple as possible.
"We need to move from rule to role, from rigidity to responsiveness, from delay to delivery," he added.
Singh said the country's future lies on ease of science and ease of innovation, but its foundation must be built on administrative clarity, simplicity and synergy.
"Today's meeting is a significant step in that direction," he added.
The high-level meeting was attended by key stakeholders, including Prof Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Advisor to the government of India; N Kalaiselvi, Director General and Secretary, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR); Rachna Shah, Secretary, DoPT; Abhay Karandikar, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology; . Rajesh Gokhale, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology; and M Ravichandran, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences.
Other senior officers from the respective departments also participated actively in the deliberations. PTI
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
34 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Modi govt. believes in helping the last man in the queue, says Nadda
From putting the country on the path of economic progress to lifting 25 crore people above the poverty line, the government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership has taken various measures for the welfare of all sections of society, drawing inspiration from former Jan Sangh leader Deendayal Upadhyaya's idea of integral humanism, said Union Minister and BJP president J.P. Nadda here on Sunday. Mr. Nadda was delivering the valedictory address at a two-day conference on the completion of 60 years of Upadhyaya's ideological formulation of integral humanism. Mr Nadda said Upadhyaya had felt that 'a vast country like India cannot be governed successfully through a centralised system but rather through a decentralised one'. Welfare goals He added that the development of the last man in the queue was fundamental to the concept of integral humanism, and this was reflected in the welfare policies undertaken by the Modi government. 'The Modi government has empowered women, farmers and marginalised sections of society by taking various measures for them, while others only talked about doing so,' he said, mounting a veiled attack on the Congress and other Opposition parties. He said that the government had provided cooking gas connections to more than 10 crore households, constructed 12 crore toilets and built four crore pucca houses. 'There were lots of discussions on farmers. Every politician started becoming a farmer leader. However, it was our Atal Bihari Vajpayee first (during his term as the Prime Minister) and then Prime Minister Narendra Modi who changed the destiny of farmers, taking inspiration from Upadhyaya's integral humanism,' he said, For farmers' welfare, the Modi government had taken various measures and rolled out the Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme, soil health card programme and crop insurance scheme, he added. Under Mr. Modi's leadership, India became the fourth largest economy in the world and is proceeding towards achieving self-reliance in various sectors, including defence. 'We witnessed the success of Operation Sindoor and that of BrahMos (missiles) as well. Our defence production has reached ₹1.3 lakh crore (in terms of value),' he said.
Economic Times
38 minutes ago
- Economic Times
Kerala slams Centre for 'discrimination' over foreign aid policy
Kerala's finance minister accuses the central government of political bias for allowing Maharashtra to receive foreign aid while denying the same to Kerala during the 2018 floods. He criticizes the discriminatory treatment, suggesting Maharashtra's closeness to the ruling party influenced the decision. The minister also alleges apathy towards Kerala regarding the Wayanad landslide tragedy and unmet expectations for financial assistance. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Kerala's CPI(M)-led Left government on Sunday accused the BJP-ruled Centre of political bias after it allowed Maharashtra to accept foreign aid while denying similar help to Kerala during its 2018 Finance Minister K N Balagopal said Kerala has no objection to Maharashtra receiving foreign assistance for relief efforts. However, he criticised the Union government for what he called "discriminatory treatment" between states."It's not disasters and sufferings of people but politics that is the criterion for the Centre to take such decisions, which is unbecoming of administrators," he said while addressing reporters state finance minister's sharp reaction comes amidst reports that the Maharashtra Chief Minister's Relief Fund has been accorded a licence under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010, thus making it eligible to receive foreign funding. As per the law, all associations and NGOs receiving foreign contributions are required to be registered under the to official sources, the Maharashtra Chief Minister's Relief Fund located at Mantralaya in Mumbai has been registered with the FCRA after it fulfilled the reiterating that Kerala has no objection to Maharashtra receiving foreign aid for relief, Balagopal said there was no justification for denying the same approval to the southern also said that the Maharashtra government's perceived closeness to the ruling front at the Centre leads other states, including Kerala, to believe that this may have influenced the Union government's stance, he said, is a "violation" of the country's federal principles and the principle of equal treatment that should be guaranteed by the Centre to all warned that differentiating between states based on political considerations, even during natural calamities, would damage healthy relations between the Union government and the states."There should be equal justice in such matters. Everyone expects the rule of law and fairness in these circumstances," the minister said, urging the Centre to treat all states Kerala permission to accept foreign funds while granting the same to Maharashtra is unacceptable, he also alleged that the Centre had shown apathy towards the state during the Wayanad landslide Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited the landslide-hit hamlets in Wayanad, no financial relief has been announced for the state by the Centre in this regard so far, he further charged."We expected that an announcement of financial assistance for landslide-hit Wayanad would come from the PM when he arrived here for the inauguration of Vizhinjam seaport. But nothing has happened," he the state had expected a viability gap fund without condition for Vizhinjam Port, it was also not granted by the union government yet, the finance minister to the website of the Maharashtra chief minister's relief fund, it aims at providing immediate relief to the people in distress in Maharashtra as well as in the chief minister's relief fund provides financial assistance to people affected by major natural calamities like floods, droughts, fire accidents, also provides financial assistance to economically weaker sections for treatment of major FCRA licence is a permit issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs that allows registered organisations to accept foreign funds for specific licences are crucial for the NGOs, trusts and other entities seeking to receive foreign funding for social, cultural, religious or educational activities.
The Hindu
38 minutes ago
- The Hindu
RSS invites Bastar tribal leader to key Nagpur event
Arvind Netam, a prominent tribal leader from Chhattisgarh's Bastar region and former Union Minister, will be the chief guest at a national-level Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) event in Nagpur later this week. At the annual 'Karyakarta Vikas Varg Dwitiya Samapan Samaroh', a volunteers' event scheduled to be held in Nagpur's Reshmibagh on June 5, Mr. Netam will be sharing the stage with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, according to the invitation letter. While Mr. Netam, a former Congressman, has categorically denied that the latest development has anything to do with his next political move, it has generated considerable buzz in the State because the 'Karyakarta Vikas Varg Dwitiya Samapan Samaroh' is an important event in the RSS calendar. Its significance was further underlined in 2018 when former President, the late Pranab Mukherjee, attended it as the chief guest. Quit Congress in 2023 After quitting the Congress in 2023, Mr. Netam – who was a Minister in the Union governments led by Congress leaders Indira Gandhi and P.V. Narsimha Rao in the past – floated his own party Hamar Raj. The party fielded candidates in the 2023 Assembly election and is understood to have caused some damage to the then ruling Congress in the Bastar region. However, since that election, he has maintained a quiet presence. The RSS invitation came as a surprise to Mr. Netam himself. 'I have had few interactions with the RSS in the past. However, four to five months ago, I met Mr. Bhagwat in Raipur and had a long discussion with him over several issues and perhaps that could have contributed to them choosing me as the chief guest,' Mr. Netam told The Hindu. RSS' national publicity in-charge Sunil Ambekar said Mr. Netam was invited as a social worker. 'He is a person who is doing social work in tribal areas, especially in Bastar, and he is doing good work to promote the tribal traditions there, that is why we have called him,' he said. Tribal outreach While observers say that Mr. Netam's scheduled participation is a move to widen the RSS' tribal outreach in a State where a third of its population are tribals, Mr. Netam said he would use the opportunity to discuss issues that were critical to the tribal communities. He added that such discussions were important because unless one convinced the RSS, such concerns might not 'percolate into the policies of the governments'. 'The BJP has formed the government at the Centre and in several States, including Chhattisgarh. So I am told that unless you convince the RSS, the BJP is not going to entertain any suggestion or representation from us as a community. This is only possible with mutual discussion. We want to know from the Sangh what will be the role of the tribal community after their displacement due to industrialisation and mining,' he said. The octogenarian added that he was against religious conversions that were 'happening rapidly' in the Bastar region. 'We will seek help from the RSS on how to check the problem with the help of others. This is our approach,' he said. While conversions have been one of the key issues raised by the BJP and RSS leaders in Bastar in the recent past, Mr. Netam's recent stance is a departure from his stand a couple of years ago when he emphasised the need for a consolidated political identity for tribals. Asked if the recent event was a prelude to Mr. Netam joining the BJP, a senior leader from Chhattisgarh did not give a reply but said he was a 'nationalist leader'. Mr. Netam, however, said there was no question of him joining the BJP as he had retired from active politics.
