As part of the ongoing Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations, the Ministry of Labour & Employment continues to lead innovative efforts in shaping a more humane public service culture. A shining example of this vision was the recent training programme on “Compassion in Governance”, organised by the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya National Academy of Social Security (PDUNASS), the training arm of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), in collaboration with the Satyarthi Movement for Global Compassion (SMGC).
This workshop was a direct outcome of the 17th edition of PDUNASS’s Online Lecture Series: “Re-Imagining Governance Discourse for Excellence (RGDE)”, where Nobel Peace Laureate Shri Kailash Satyarthi had delivered a thought-provoking keynote on the theme “Reimagining Compassionate Governance.” Inspired by his words, Shri Ramesh Krishnamurthi, Central Provident Fund Commissioner, had called upon EPFO officers to adopt compassion as a core value in their daily administrative responsibilities.
Taking the baton forward, PDUNASS initiated this training programme as a pilot project, specifically designed for its probationers. The goal? To bridge the often-overlooked gap between policy implementation and human sensitivity. As Shri Kumar Rohit aptly remarked in his welcome address, “Governance is not just about rules; it’s about the people. Our processes must reflect that humanity.”
Participants were encouraged to reimagine their roles as public servants, not just as implementers of policy, but as agents of trust, inclusion, and human connection. The workshop encouraged introspection on how compassion can improve not just citizen satisfaction but also governance outcomes.
This training is not just a one-off event, but a foundational step toward embedding compassion into the DNA of public institutions. As India moves ahead in its Amrit Kaal, such initiatives remind us that governance, at its best, is about people — and at its heart, about humanity.
The PDUNASS-SMGC collaboration is a call to action — to make every decision, every interaction, and every policy an opportunity to serve not just with efficiency, but with empathy.