18th Civil Services Day: Vice-President recalls Patel's 'steel frame'; PM's Excellence Award entries rise to 2,035
The 18th Civil Services Day was observed at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, on 21 April 2026, with Vice-President C.P. Radhakrishnan delivering the keynote address.
Summary
The 18th Civil Services Day was observed at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, on 21 April 2026. Vice-President C.P. Radhakrishnan delivered the keynote address and recalled that 79 years had passed since Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, independent India's first Home Minister, addressed probationers of the Administrative Services in Delhi and called civil servants the 'steel frame of India'. Minister of State for Personnel Dr Jitendra Singh said applications for the Prime Minister's Awards for Excellence rose from 1,216 in 2023 to 1,588 in 2024 and 2,035 in 2025. He said the iGOT Karmayogi platform had onboarded more than 1.63 crore officials with over 4,770 courses, and that CPGRAMS now handles 25â30 lakh grievances a year with average resolution time cut from 60 days to about 12.
Key facts
- Event
- 18th Civil Services Day, Vigyan Bhawan, 21 April 2026
- Keynote
- Vice-President C.P. Radhakrishnan
- History
- 79 years since Sardar Patel called civil servants the 'steel frame of India'
- PM's Excellence Awards
- Entries: 1,216 (2023) → 1,588 (2024) → 2,035 (2025)
- iGOT Karmayogi
- 1.63 crore+ officials; 4,770+ courses
- CPGRAMS
- 25â30 lakh grievances a year; resolution ~12 days (from 60)
Practice MCQs 3 questions
Who delivered the keynote address at the 18th Civil Services Day in New Delhi on 21 April 2026?
Show answer
Correct answer: B â Vice-President C.P. Radhakrishnan
Vice-President C.P. Radhakrishnan delivered the keynote address at Vigyan Bhawan.
Applications for the Prime Minister's Awards for Excellence in 2025 numbered:
Show answer
Correct answer: B â 2,035
Applications rose from 1,216 in 2023 to 1,588 in 2024 and 2,035 in 2025; 4,770 is the number of iGOT courses.
Consider the following statements made at the 18th Civil Services Day: 1. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel described civil servants as the 'steel frame of India' while addressing probationers in Delhi 79 years earlier. 2. Average grievance resolution time on CPGRAMS has fallen from 60 days to about 12 days. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Show answer
Correct answer: C â Both 1 and 2
Both are correct: the Vice-President recalled Patel's 'steel frame' address 79 years earlier, and Dr Jitendra Singh cited the fall in CPGRAMS resolution time from 60 to about 12 days.