Gurugram: The Haryana government has asked all administrative secretaries to nominate officers for a five-day training on stress management to be held in Gangtok next month by the National Productivity Council, an autonomous body under the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
The state chief secretary office has asked all administrative secretaries to nominate officers for the residential programme in Sikkim’s capital from 27 July to 31 July.
The Chief Secretary’s Training Department issued a circular on 22 June forwarding a request from the National Productivity Council (NPC), an autonomous body under the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
Nominations for the programme titled ‘Stress Management and Strategic Financial Planning for Organisational Excellence’, must reach the NPC by 13 July.
The programme’s cost to the exchequer: Rs 75,000 a head, which includes accommodation, meals, and a programme. Non-residential participants are charged Rs 60,000, plus GST in either case.
The programme covers stress management basics, risk management, financial decision-making and valuation techniques. Participants receive a certificate on completing the course.
A senior Haryana government officer told ThePrint that this will be the first time Haryana officers will attend an NPC stress management training programme.
“The training programme doesn’t involve much expenditure and it will prove beneficial to officers, particularly those in the initial years of their career. The day-to-day work of officers involves a lot of stress, and such programmes help in unwinding as well as learning,” said the officer.
Another senior IAS officer was less enthusiastic.
“Such events serve hardly any purpose except for the outing involved,” he said.
He argued that the government’s focus should be on creating a stress-free work environment rather than on training.
“All India Services officers are trained to take the pressure of work. That doesn’t give them much stress. In fact, stress comes when an officer is asked to do what he or she is unable to do under the rules. The government should rather ensure that its officers are given an atmosphere where they don’t come under stress,” he said.
Port Blair to Kovalam
NPC’s training calendar for the year shows a trend: most of the programmes are held in scenic hill and beach towns.
The same stress management and strategic financial planning course being offered to Haryana officers in Gangtok in July is scheduled again in Port Blair in November.
Other upcoming programmes are planned in Ayodhya in September, Kovalam in Kerala in December, and Port Blair again in January and February 2027, an itinerary that tracks closely with India’s most popular tourist destinations.
For the current financial year, NPC has planned approximately 100 residential training programmes across the country, each for groups of 10 to 30 participants over four nights and five days.
It has floated a tender for empanelling three-star and four-star hotels across 20 locations. The empanelment conditions require double-bed rooms on single occupancy with all meals, fully equipped conference halls, two tea and coffee breaks with snacks per day, a gala networking dinner, and complimentary airport transfers for faculty.
The NPC, established in 1958, is an autonomous tripartite body with equal representation from the government, employers and workers’ organisations.
According to the letter, the NPC has 13 regional offices and one training institute, and provides consulting and training services across areas including human resources management, energy management and environment management.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)