Bengaluru, May 1 (IANS): Former Puducherry Lt. Governor Kiran Bedi on Sunday said not only politicians but bureaucrats and officers must also engage themselves with people and this would solve many of their problems.

Delivering the keynote address at the 3rd edition of the G.C. Surana Conclave, organised by Surana College here, the former IPS officer said: "It is essential that officials in key positions in government make good use of their leadership. When I started working as an IPS officer, there was no communication between the officials. The same thing prevailed in Puducherry."

"To rectify this, programmes were held to encourage people to trust our administration. In addition, the practice of mingling with the people and the heads of each department and examining the development work itself was developed. This made development work much faster," she said.

"We should not do things with the impression that someone is recognizing them, we should recognize our own work," she added.

Earlier, inaugurating the conclave, Karnataka Minister for Higher Education C.N. Ashwath Narayan said: "Today's academic scores are not the criteria for getting a job. It is important to embrace sports, personality development and leadership qualities. Our educational standards have been changed by the new nation's education policy."

The Minister said Bengaluru, the Silicon Valley of India is a land of opportunities and the reason for India's brain gain.

He highlighted the state's role in implementing the National Education Policy, the minister also mentioned that Karnataka is a model state when it comes to introducing transformational projects in the IT, BT and education sector.