Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday attended the centenary celebrations of the Union Public Service Commission at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, marking 100 years since India’s first Public Service Commission was set up on October 1, 1926.

Modi released a commemorative coin, a postage stamp and a book titled ‘100 Landmark Judgements’. He said recruitment exams should test not just what candidates know but also why they want to join the civil services.

“Nation first and citizen first must guide every civil servant,” he said, calling the citizen “no less than a deity” and urging officers to bring in youth driven by service rather than office.

He recalled that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose appeared in the civil services examination in 1920 and credited Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel with building the “steel frame” of independent India’s administration.

The Prime Minister also praised flydubai captain Smit Machchhar, saying an Indian had prevented a “9/11-style tragedy” with remarkable patience, presence of mind and courage.