New Delhi: The central government has tied up with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to provide online training to its employees in areas of governance, administration and public policy, among others.
This comes as part of the Integrated Government Online Training Programme (iGOT) launched by the Narendra Modi government in December last year. Under iGOT, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) started various online courses for government employees — from Group D to secretary-level rank — earlier this month. The tie-up with the MIT happened before the Lok Sabha elections.
A DoPT official told ThePrint the MIT will provide course materials at the cost of $100. It usually charges $1,000 for online courses, he said.
On successful completion of the courses, the amount spent on it will be reimbursed to the employees by the government, the official said.
At present, there are six-seven courses, but the number will go up over time. The courses will be appropriate to the cognitive level of the employees, the DoPT official said.
To fund the iGOT in its initial stages, the government has also written to the Asian Development Bank (ADB). “It is not a very big amount…about Rs 3.5-4 crore…But, we are yet to hear from the ADB,” the official said.
In future, the government will seek to partner with other foreign universities as well to enhance the training mechanism of its employees, he added.
iGOT aims at providing competent civil services
The iGOT initiative is part of the Modi government’s National Training Policy-2012, according to which “all civil servants will be provided with training to equip them with the competencies for their current or future jobs”. The initiative aims at providing “competent civil services for good governance”.
Since 21 May, when the courses first started running, 70 government officials of different ranks have signed up for the programme.
“The training requirement of government employees is humongous…These courses on areas relating to public policy will allow officers to keep getting training even as they are in the service,” the DoPT official said.
iGOT will ensure Group B,C,D officers also get training
While senior IAS, IPS, IFS officers, among others, often take sabbaticals to get training from foreign universities, officers of Group B, C and D do not get any training once they join the service. The iGOT initiative will help fill this gap, the official said.
The success of the iGOT programme with a target of achieving up to 40,000 hours of course materials on the portal is expected to be a part of the DoPT’s 100-day agenda.
“There has been a lot of stress on developing expertise in subjects…These (online) courses will ensure that officers can develop expertise alongside their jobs,” the DoPT official said.
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