Common Central Secretariat not just new buildings, direction of country will be set from here: PM Modi

Indian Express

3 hours ago

Underlining the administrative reforms undertaken by his government over the past 11 years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the new central secretariat building he inaugurated was not merely a building, but would be the site of deliberations for making India a developed country.
'These are not only some new buildings and ordinary infrastructure. In Amrit Kaal, the policies of Viksit Bharat will be made here, important decisions for Viksit Bharat will be taken. In the coming decades, the direction for the country will be set from here,' he said.
Over the past 11 years, he said around 1,500 obsolete laws and 40,000 compliances had been done away with. He said with the use of Jan Dhan, Aadhaar and mobile, delivery of government schemes had become transparent and free of leakages. He said 10 crore fraudulent names had been removed from the list of beneficiaries of various schemes, saving Rs 4.3 lakh crore.
Earlier in the day, the PM inaugurated Kartavya Bhavan 3, the first of the 10 Common Central Secretariat (CCS) buildings proposed by the government as a part of its Central Vista redevelopment plan. The building, located on Janpath, will house offices of the Ministries of Home Affairs, External Affairs, Rural Development, Petroleum and Natural Gas and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.
In the evening, he addressed a gathering on Kartavya Path, with ministers including Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Manohar Lal, MPs, bureaucrats and government employees in attendance. At Kartavya Path, he said it was time to change the way the government thinks of files. To the employees who will be shifting into the new building, he said if a file that affects one lakh people is delayed on their desk, it means that one lakh human days are wasted.
He said important ministries of the Union government, including Home Affairs, were working out of buildings constructed by the British colonial government. 'Workers here did not have adequate space, light or ventilation,' he said. He said those working at the new complex would a good working environment. He said Union government ministries operate out of 50 different locations across Delhi, with some working from rented spaces that cost the government `1,500 crore a year in rent. The PM also said 8,000 to 10,000 employees have to go from one building to another every day, leading to higher expenditure and traffic congestion.
'The grand Kartavya Bhavan and other major infrastructure projects are not only a testament to India's pace but also a reflection of its global vision,' he said.