30 Mar : President Pratibha Patil on Monday exhorted trainee administrative officers to render excellent service to the nation so that the IAS could be defined as Indian Admirable Service as well.
Addressing the 2008 batch of IAS at New Delhi on Monday, which has the largest intake of women in the history of the service, Patil said every member of the 120 officer-strong batch should not work in a "stereotyped manner" but work keeping in mind how they want the country to be in 2045, as they are most likely to have a service of 30 to 35 years.
"The attitude and approach will be very important. The motto of every officer should be to make IAS be known as Indian Admirable Service," Patil told the group.
Stressing on the need to take citizens along while implementing a programme besides increasing awareness, the President said special care should be taken to eradicate social evils like child marriage and female foeticides which act as barriers to development.
"It is important to completely eradicate the practice of child marriage as its brings along 10 other evils like early birth and poor health of the mother," she was quoted as saying by a Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson.
Patil told the probationers, which include 32 women, that they should expeditiously fight corruption and be transparent.
"Though one should not work in stereotyped manner, the officers should also ensure preservation of traditional values and civilisation heritage," she added.