NEW DELHI: Union Minister Incharge Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) Dr Jitendra Singh today called for continued effort to make service rules more responsive to employees and their families.
Welcoming the ‘CSS Shield’ initiative of the Central Secretariat Service (CSS) Forum, Dr Jitendra Singh said, such collective efforts can create a new culture of standing by families in times of sudden loss. Speaking at the launch of the initiative, he said that the mechanism is not difficult to implement; what matters is the collective will and willingness to contribute. He said that when colleagues come together as one family to support a bereaved family, it sends a meaningful message beyond the organisation itself.
The Minister was speaking at an event organised by the Central Secretariat Service Forum for the launch of ‘CSS Shield’, a mutual support initiative for the bereaved families of CSS officers. The programme was attended by office-bearers and members of the CSS Forum, serving CSS officers and colleagues, besides family members of late Mohan Chandra Bhatt and late Rajendra Chandra. Dr. Jitendra Singh presented financial assistance to the families of the two deceased officers as part of the initiative.
Dr. Jitendra Singh said that the initiative is in keeping with the larger effort of the Personnel Ministry to make government service systems more responsive to the needs of employees and their families. He said that several service-related provisions have been changed in recent years to reflect contemporary requirements and that the Government remains open to introducing new provisions or modifying existing rules wherever this can make the system more responsive.
Referring to the approach of the Government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Dr. Jitendra Singh said that there is continuous encouragement to review rules and procedures and make necessary changes wherever existing arrangements can be improved. He said that the objective is to ensure that government systems remain sensitive and responsive to the needs of employees and their families.
The Minister also suggested that the initiative could acquire a wider dimension as its participation and corpus grow. He said that scholarships for the children of deceased CSS officers could also be considered as part of the support extended through the initiative, providing assistance to families beyond the immediate period of loss.
The CSS Shield initiative has been conceived around the principle of “Contribute for Family, Support with Dignity”, with the objective of providing collective financial support to the bereaved families of CSS officers. The initiative seeks to ensure a more structured and dependable mechanism through which members of the service community can stand by the families of their colleagues.
Speaking about the evolution of the initiative, representatives of the CSS Forum said that the Forum had been supporting the families of deceased CSS officers through voluntary contributions even before the formal launch of CSS Shield. The experience during the COVID-19 period, when a number of CSS officers lost their lives, further strengthened the need for a structured mechanism of mutual support.
The Forum said that, since 2020, CSS officers have collectively contributed around ₹1.30 crore towards financial assistance for the families of approximately 65–70 deceased officers. The CSS Shield initiative has now been formalised to bring greater consistency and predictability to this support.
Under the new initiative, the Forum seeks to provide at least ₹15 lakh to a bereaved family, while its larger objective is to progressively enhance the assistance as participation increases. With the participation of the approximately 13,000 members of the Central Secretariat Service, the Forum envisages taking the support substantially higher in the future.
The programme also paid tribute to late Mohan Chandra Bhatt and late Rajendra Chandra, recalling their contribution and service. Bhatt had served in different capacities in the Central Secretariat Service and other government organisations, while Rajendra Chandra had served for around two decades in the Administration Division of the Department of Revenue.
The launch of CSS Shield reaffirmed the CSS Forum’s commitment to standing with its members and their families in difficult times and strengthening the spirit of “Together We Serve, Together We Support.”
