Kevadia, October 31: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday urged the civil services probationers to fulfil their huge responsibilities in the next two decades when the country will be celebrating its 100th year of Independence.

"They should take decisions towards strengthening India's unity, for protecting the spirit of the Constitution. It might be that your region might be small, the department which you are running its boundaries might be less but the decisions should always have the country's and the people's interests. It should have a national perspective, the work of a steel frame is not just providing a base and carrying on with the pre-existing setup, the work of a steel frame is making the country feel that no matter how big the struggle or change is you will be a power to build the country in the way forward," he said.

"Your batch is very important, when your batch will go on the field it will be the time when India will be in its 75th year of Independence. Friends, you are the officers who will be in service when the country will be celebrating its 100th year of independence. These 25 years are very important for India, and your generation is the one which will be a part of the most important administrative setup," Prime Minister Modi added. PM Narendra Modi Says Country is Establishing New Dimensions of Unity as Jammu and Kashmir Move on a New Path of Development.

"The government does not run from the top, the inclusion of people for whom policies are formulated is very important. The public is not just the beneficiary of government policies, programs, but is the real driving force. That is why we need to move from government to governance," he said.

Advising the future officers, the Prime Minister said that they might have to face many difficulties in their careers but their role in the country's development should be of "minimum government, maximum governance".

"You have to assure that your interference in people's lives is minimum, and how the people can be empowered," he said.

Quoting a line from the Upanishads, he urged the future officers to work for the people treating all the people as their own. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was addressing via videoconference the probationers of the Indian civil services at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Mussoorie, on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the first home minister of India.

"I have full confidence that with your dedication and service you will play a very important role in the service of the country and making it Atmanirbhar," he said.

He further gave them a task of identifying the Made in India goods of daily use which they have and to segregate them from those made outside the country. He then urged them to switch to goods produced in the country, for which local options are available.

"The beginning of Atmanirbhar should be from Aatm (self). Can you begin being vocal for local," PM Modi said. He also asked them to identify such goods in the campus too and make it a part of their daily lives. The Prime Minister had earlier remembered late Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and reiterated the message he had given to the first batch of officers in April 1947.

"In a way, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was the father of the country's Civil Services. On April 21, 1947, addressing the first batch of administrative officers Sardar Patel called civil servants the 'steel frame of the country'. He advised the officers that serving the people is their paramount duty. I also have the same request that civil servants should take all decisions in the country's interests," the PM said.

Earlier today, the Prime Minister paid tribute to Sardar Patel at the Statue of Unity in Kevadia, Gujarat. He then witnessed the 'Rashtriya Ekta Diwas' parade on the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in Kevadia, Gujarat.

Parade in its tableau included National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) vehicles--Medical First Respondent (MFR), Flood Water Rescue (FWR) vehicle, Border Security Force's (BSF) Mine Protected Vehicle (MPV) and Central Reserve Police Force's (CRPF) Critical Response Vehicle.CRPF Women Warriors' also performed a rifle drill while the Department of Sports Youth and Cultural Affairs, Gujarat State performed a cultural dance. Rashtriya Ekta Diwas Pledge Full Text: PM Narendra Modi Administers National Unity Day Pledge at Statue of Unity in Gujarat’s Kevadia on Birth Anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (Watch Video).

The Prime Minister also administered the Rashtriya Ekta Pledge here.

PM Modi is on a two-day visit to Gujarat, the first time since the COVID-19 outbreak and the subsequent lockdown in March, to mark Rashtriya Ekta Diwas, celebrating the birth anniversary of Sardar Patel.

Sardar Patel, who is credited with uniting all 562 princely states of the pre-independent country to build the Republic of India, passed away on December 15, 1950.