Revolutionary governance reforms brought in two years: Dr Jitendra Singh
Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Youth Affairs and Sports, MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh has said that revolutionary Governance Reforms were brought in during the last two years under the leadership of the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. He emphasized the need for Reforms in Governance to address the needs of the Youth who constitute the majority of the population.
Addressing the Valedictory Session of the two-day National Symposium on ”Excellence in Training” here today, Dr Jitendra Singh recalled that soon after the present government took over, the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi gave us the golden Mantra of “Maximum Governance, Minimum Government”. Thereafter, not only he himself stuck to this dictum but also inspired his other colleagues in the government to follow the same and make the governance and administration more responsive, citizen centric and accountable, he said.
Referring to some of the path breaking reforms, Dr Jitendra Singh said, within few months of the formation of government, the age old practice of getting the certificates attested by gazetted officers was abolished. This not only brought convenience to the youth aspiring for jobs and for other applications, but also sent out a message that the NDA Government had the capacity to trust the citizens of this country.
Similarly, from the 1st of January this year, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the practice of interviews had been discontinued in all the Central Ministries and Departments for selection to junior level posts so that every individual regardless of his background or socio-economic status may have the opportunity to prove his caliber at a level playing field.
At the Valedictory Session, Dr Jitendra Singh presented awards in six categories:
- Development of Training Content: YASHADA, Pune
- Androgogy and Methodology: Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy, Dehradun
iii. Management of Training and Training Establishments: Kundal Academy, Sangli, Maharashtra
- Trainers/Faculty Development: National Industrial Security Academy, Hyderabad
- Use of Technology to bring Innovation in Training: Administrative Training Institutes (ATI) West Bengal
- Individual Award for contribution/Innovation in Training: Shri Indra Jeet Mittal
Complementing the officers who were awarded in today’s function, Dr Jitendra Singh emphasized that various mid-career and other Training Courses for bureaucrats and other officers have been given reorientation in order to match the requirements of 21st century India. He suggested that for making the Training effective, components of Informal Training including Field Visits should be included in the curriculum. Dr Jitendra Singh said the situation of complacency in learning should be addressed by Training System. The change in the attitude of Civil Servants will take place only through self-training and personal initiative. All Training Programmes should have follow-up for results’ mechanism, he added.
Earlier in the day, Shri P.K Sinha, Cabinet Secretary, chaired the Open House Session and also launched the handbook on Functional Manual for Training Managers. He suggested that all training programmes should be designed according to the current administrative requirements of the changing situation. It was further suggested that the practice of decentralized planning, designing and implementation of training should be adopted by all Departments/Ministries. There is need for including more components of practical and on-the-job training to make it more relevant and interesting, he added.
Mr. Jaco Cilliers, Resident Representative & Country Director, UNDP, Union Secretary Personnel Shri Sanjay Kothari, Shri B.S. Paswan, Head of UPSC Committee for Civil Services and other senior officers were present at the Symposium.
The eminent speakers for the day were Shri C Viswanath (Secretary, Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances), Shri Rajiv Kapoor (Director, LBSNAA), Dr Amita Prasad (Additional Secretary, Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change), Shri Ashwani Chatterjee (Indian School of Business), Shri Vinay Hebber, (MD, Harvard Business School Publishing, Shri Birjendu Gupta (Regional Director, Centre for Creative Leadership), Shri Kiran Gandhi (IC Centre for Good Governance), Shri David Emanuel (Tata Management Training Centre) and Prof. William Gaudelli (Colombia University).
During technical sessions of the Symposium, the panelists stressed that the concept of Citizen Centric Governance should be clearly defined so that it can embedded in the Training Strategy. They also proposed the sensitization of Civil Servants on the issues of human values that would play an important role in changing their attitude towards the Service besides suggesting that the Training Curriculum should include contents that promote reflection and thinking among participants. The speakers opined that there are challenges of finding appropriate Case Studies which are relevant to the Public Sector. It was suggested that most of the senior Civil Servants possess extensive experience that can be documented in a scientific and logical framework so that it can be utilized as case study related to public policy.
The two-day symposium was inaugurated by Dr. P. K. Mishra, Additional Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister yesterday. He complimented the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for this important initiative and was hopeful that the ideas which emerge out of this Symposium will be more relevant and practical.
The Symposium was attended by more than 375 delegates that includes Heads of State ATIs/ Central Training Institutes (CTIs) and the Faculty, Trainers and experts from Government and Private Institutions. Over-arching theme of the Symposium was Citizen Centric Governance and changing the mindset of Civil Servants to Service Orientation.
The DoPT has undertaken a number of Citizen-focused initiatives, such as creating a pool of National Facilitators on ethics and leadership from among the serving and retired Civil Servants, developing a Manual for training managers of different Departments and Organizations and a compendium of Case Studies and Best Practices.