PM inaugurates Kartavya Bhavan, vows to free India from poverty

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday pledged to liberate India of poverty as he inaugurated the new Government of India offices at Kartavya Bhavan in Lutyens Delhi.

Describing the new buildings as “pro-people and pro-planet”, the PM stressed the significance of duties over rights and urged officials to change their approach towards grievances and files.

“Citizen is God”, the PM said, asking bureaucrats and all officials to make their postings count. He asked them all to treat complaints from citizens with empathy noting that while a file or a grievance may look routine to them, to someone these things may mean their whole life.

“We must change our approach towards files. One file, one complaint, one petition may look like a routine affair, but for someone that same page could be the core of all their hopes. Lives of many could be linked to a file. For instance, if a file related to one lakh people is delayed even for a day, it would mean a loss of one lakh mandays,” he said, adding that from the new, efficient buildings, the government would make policies to steer India towards the goal of Viksit Bharat.

Modi recalled the reform and governance path pursued by his government, noting the repeal of 1,500 laws and 40,000 compliances, and said reforms would continue.

In a veiled swipe at the Congress, which ruled India for most of the period since Independence, PM Modi said, “Today is not an occasion for criticism, but for introspection. Many countries that gained independence around the same time progressed rapidly, while we kept lagging behind. There may have been many reasons for this, but we must now consider it our duty not to leave behind legacy issues for future generations. We have already lifted 25 crore people out of poverty, and from the new Kartavya Bhavan, we will fully liberate India from poverty.”

Modi said the decision to name the new government buildings Kartavya Bhavans was rooted in India’s philosophical emphasis on duty. He defined duty as a consciousness that places society above self.

Kartavya Bhavan 3 will house key ministries of home, external affairs and oil. The PM lamented that even a crucial segment such as home ran from a 98-year-old North Block all these years, while other government offices ran from structurally old British-era compounds.

“We will save Rs 1,500 crore in annual rents due to ministries currently being housed on rent across 50 places in Delhi. We will also end the need for 10,000 employees to run from one office to another daily,” said Modi.

A total of 10 such complexes, including the one inaugurated today, will be built in central Delhi to house all government ministries.