All officers must attend Independence Day fete
Diktat also makes it clear that a “serious view would be taken of their absence on this occasion.”
New Delhi: The NDA government has ordered full attendance for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s maiden speech from the rampart of the Red Fort on Au-gust 15. For the first time, the bureaucrats have been warned of stern action if they fail to attend the Independence Day ceremony.
Cabinet secretary Ajit Seth has shot off a circular to all the secretaries in the Union government wherein he has made it clear that “low attenda-nce of the official invite-es” wouldn’t be accepta-ble. “It has been observed that there is, at times, low attendance of the official invitees to the ceremony. This is unacceptable considering that the occasion is of great national importance,” the circular stated.
The diktat also makes it categorically clear that a “serious view would be taken of their absence on this occasion.”
The PMO is making gr-and preparations for Mr Modi’s maiden speech from the rampart of the Red Fort. The Cabinet secretary had earlier ask-ed all ministries to subm-it details of “big things” that could be done in the immediate future.
“Till last year, the audience for the PM’s speech at Red Fort largely consisted of school children and diplomats, with government officials largely skipping the event. But this time the message in the bureaucracy is that the government will not be lenient on them who skip such events, as the PM is likely to speak on the issue of governance and his priorities,” an official said.