PM Modi also shared a video of his speech on Civil Services Day in 2018.(FILE)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today praised bureaucrats for their efforts in the fight against coronavirus on the occasion of Civil Services Day.
"Today, on Civil Services Day I convey greetings to all Civil Servants and their families. I appreciate their efforts in ensuring India successfully defeats COVID-19. They are working round the clock, assisting those in need and ensuring everyone is healthy," the PM tweeted this morning.
Civil Services Day is celebrated on April 21 every year as an occasion for bureaucrats to renew their commitment to public service.
PM Modi also shared a video of his speech on Civil Services Day in 2018 in which he spoke about appreciation, evaluation and introspection for the bureaucracy.
April 21 is chosen to mark the day when the first Home Minister of Independent India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, had addressed the probationers of Administrative Services Officers in 1947. In his speech, Sardar Patel had referred to civil servants as the "steel frame of India".
President Ram Nath Kovind and Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, too, extended greetings on Civil Services Day.
President Kovind said that civil services have played a key role in implementing policies and programs for public welfare. "On Civil Services Day, greetings to all civil servants, past and present, and their families. Our civil services have played a key role in implementing policies and programs for public welfare," the President tweeted.
The President also praised civil servants for handling the COVID-19 situation with sensitivity and professionalism. "In the present times too, the steel frame of our country, the civil service, has shown its strength and resolve in handling COVID-19 situations, with sensitivity and professionalism. Confident that our civil services will continue to serve in the best traditions of public service," he said in another tweet.
Vice President Venkaiah Naidu said the high professional standards of the bureaucrats have stood the country well in times of peace as well as crisis. "Our civil servants along with doctors and medical professionals have been leading India''s fight against COVID-19 ... We are grateful to all such warriors who have been risking their lives at the face of the infection to protect all of us," he said.