Not Modi’s PMO, but people’s: Prime Minister Modi’s message at the start of his third term

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses officials of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) at South Block, in New Delhi, Monday, June 10, 2024

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his maiden address to the staff of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) after taking charge for the third consecutive term on Monday, expressed his vision of the PMO as an institution dedicated to public service. He emphasized that the PMO should be seen as a catalyst for injecting energy and dynamism into the system, and not as a “very big power center” as it was seen a decade ago.

“My effort has been to ensure that the PMO becomes a place that serves the people. The PMO must be ‘the people’s PMO’. It cannot be Modi’s PMO,” Modi said. He further said that he was not born to gain or amass power, but to serve the 1.4 billion Indians.

His swearing-in took place on Sunday evening and on Monday morning he was greeted with applause by officials when he arrived at his office.

Modi also outlined his expectations from government servants and expressed his desire to elevate the nation to unprecedented heights. He urged his team to surpass global benchmarks and surpass the work of the past decade. “We must take the nation to heights that no other nation has ever reached,” the Prime Minister said.

He identified clarity of thought, faith in conviction and the character to act as prerequisites for success. He also noted that the recent victory of the National Democratic Alliance in the Lok Sabha polls validated the efforts of government employees.

Modi stated that his only goal is ‘nation first’, his only motivation is ‘Viksit Bharat’, and he is determined to work round the clock to transform India into a developed country by 2047.

Modi encouraged his team to generate new ideas and increase the scale of their work. He emphasized that it is not just him, but thousands of minds working together who are running the government. As a result, citizens become witnesses to the greatness of its capabilities.

Modi underlined that the people who belong to his team have no time constraints, limits on thinking or fixed standards of effort. “The whole country has confidence in this team,” he said.

“The Prime Minister concluded the speech by shedding light on the secret of his energy and said that a successful person is one who keeps the student alive in him,” an official statement said.

First print: June 10, 2024 | 10:03 PM IST