Engage more with youth, Break silos in policymaking, PM to Secretaries

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday asked the top government official to engage with the youth more during a high-level meeting with top government officials.Modi chaired the third high-level meeting with Secretaries at his residence, where he discussed the future action agenda of ministries and departments dealing with infrastructure and connectivity, security and external affairs, and governance, according to a government press release. He said officials should look beyond immediate issues and statistics and consider how the country's future should be shaped.
“Noting that deliberations had already been held with two groups of Secretaries, Prime Minister said that Secretaries, in addition to thinking about immediate issues and statistics, should also think with a long-term perspective on how the country’s future should be shaped,” the release stated.During the meeting, Modi stressed that departmental silos were not merely an organisational issue but also a problem of mindset. “He said silos can be both horizontal and vertical. He stressed that officials must take ownership of their responsibilities and work with a spirit of belongingness,” it added.He said wider engagement with universities and young people can bring new and unconventional ideas, the statement noted.
Modi called for greater use of the technology while stressing the importance of human intervention and judgement. He also called for exploring innovative ways to combine the capabilities of AI with human expertise, the statement said. Modi termed data a national asset and a resource for the future. He noted that the government invests resources in collecting, storing and managing data, but said its full potential is not always realised because of departmental silos and fragmented systems.