In a bid to make the IAS training programme more inclusive and effective, the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie, has introduced more management-related subjects in its curriculum for IAS trainees.
Those who emerge successful in an examination to be conducted at the end of the two-year training period will be awarded a post-graduate degree in management by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).
AICTE director Abdul Rahman told ‘Express’ that AICTE has given a thumbs-up to a proposal put forth by the academy last month to ensure better administration in the country. ‘’The newly introduced topics in the curriculum are management techniques, rural development, management behaviour and human resource development,’’ he said.
The 2012-13 batch IAS trainees are the first to be trained under the new programme. Though the AICTE had sanctioned 180 seats for the PGDM course at the Academy, this year the number of the students is much less. ‘’The existing management faculty at the Academy has been entrusted with the coaching of new subjects,’’ Rahman said.
Former Chief Secretary C P Nair welcomed the initiative. ‘’Management skills are essential for the IAS officers since they are posted at the helm of PSUs and government departments,’’ he said. ‘’At the age of 27, I was posted as managing director of Kerala State Road Transport Corporation. It was a highly demanding job, and I was forced to opt for a leave after six months - the only such instance in my 36 years of service,’’ he said, adding that he had a better chance to meet demands of the job, if he had received managerial training during IAS coaching. ‘’From District Collectors to the Chief Secretary, IAS officers have to brace themselves to perform a wide variety of managerial roles. If earlier the emphasis was on law and order and revenue collection, today the District Collectors are entrusted with various administrative as well as managerial tasks,’’ he said.