BHUBANESWAR: The Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI), Hyderabad, has recommended the State Government to provide functional autonomy to the State Institute for Rural Development (SIRD).
As SIRD is mandated for enhancing the capacities of elected representatives and government functionaries of panchayati raj institutions, the institute should move away from scheme-based training programme and function as a centre of action research, documentation, monitoring and evaluation work in the rural development sector, said the ASCI report.
The ASCI undertook a study to assess institutional capacity of SIRD and administrative training institute in several states, including Orissa.
After the 73rd and 74th Constitutional amendments, the national objective is greater devolution of funds, functions and functionaries to PRIs for efficient local governance. The basic objective of the SIRD is to build capacities of the elected representatives of PRIs for better governance.
Since SIRD is part of the Government, it is involved in scheme-driven activities. The institute is facing shortage of staff with half of the 12 sanctioned posts lying vacant. Filling up the vacant posts is a long drawn process, the report added.
While SIRD is entirely dependant on government grant, on many occasions the funds are tied to various centrally-sponsored schemes. The tied funds have further limited the activities of SIRD.
Making a strong pitch for functional autonomy, the ASCI has recommended the Government to make the institute a self-sustaining academic centre. This will be possible only when the Centre and the State move out of the sponsored scheme mode of development and encourage genuine decentralisation in planning, funding and implementation of development activities, it said.
The SIRD should be developed as a resource centre in a specific domain and offer long-term training programmes for development functionaries in PRIs.
Departments concerned would sponsor their employees for capacity building and these activities will generate resources for the institute for self-sustenance, the report said.
It further suggested that the institute should be managed by a board of directors or management council with adequate power to run the institute. The autonomous management will have the authority to select faculty without any government interference.
The ASCI recommendations were discussed at a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Secretary Ajit Kumar Tripathy here yesterday. However, some senior officers said it would not be feasible in Orissa.