Come out of comfort zones: PM Modi to budding civil servants

"Don't restrict yourself to your comfort zone. Always go for a tough challenge, develop your risk taking ability. It will not only help in your personal development but also take the nation to newer heights of success," he said.

The Prime Minister said that officers should pray that they should never get an easy assignment as a challenging job has a joy of its own.

"The more you think of going to the comfort zone, the more you will stop your progress and the progress of the country."

Modi was addressing the valedictory function of the 2021 batch of officer trainees at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy Of Administration (LBSNAA) via video conferencing.

"In the next 25 years, when the country completes 100 years of independence, you have to keep in mind the biggest goals for India.... a self reliant India and an India that is modern."

The Prime Minister said that the officers need to evaluate and introspect whether 'seva bhaav' (sense of service) continues to remain their primary feeling or not.

"When we work with a sense of duty and sense of purpose, we do not feel the burden of work. You must become a part of a positive change for the society, for the country."

The Prime Minister asked the officers to connect with the field to realise all pros and cons of a situation. He emphasized the need to embrace the experience from the field as the real feel of the issues of the file come from the field.

Modi said that files do not contain just numbers and statistics but they contain life and aspirations of the people.

"You have to work by understanding the difference between files and fields. Figures contained in the files are not just numbers. Every figure, every number, is a life. You have to work for every single life, not for mere numbers."

He urged the officers to go to the root cause of problems to be able to find permanent solutions.

Modi said that Artificial Intelligence and Data Governance should be included in the training of officers.

He said that a lab on Artificial Intelligence needed to be established at the Academy.

"Data governance has to be part of the training curriculum at the Academy. Data will become a major power in times to come. We need to understand aspects of data governance. The Academy can also have certificate courses on Data Governance and Artificial Intelligence."

The Prime Minister inaugurated a new sports complex and a revamped Happy Valley Complex.