Mission Karmayogi

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    2029

    In News

    Recently, the Government of India’s Mission Karmayogi programme to build civil service capacity received a $47 million boost from the World Bank.

    Objectives and Need 

    • Civil services are at the centre of all government activities – they are agents of policymaking and the executive hand that delivers on the ground. 
    • The skill sets and capacity of the civil servants play a vital role in service delivery, program implementation and performing core governance functions.
      • Recognizing this crucial responsibility, the Mission Karmayogi programme was launched. 
    • It is meant to reform Indian bureaucracy and prepare civil servants for the future. 

    About Mission Karmayogi

    • It was launched in 2020  with the objective of enhancing governance through Civil Service Capacity Building.
    • It aims “comprehensive reform of the capacity building apparatus at individual, institutional and process levels for efficient public service delivery”.
    • It aims to prepare civil service officers for the future by making them more “creative, constructive, imaginative, innovative, proactive, professional, progressive, energetic, enabling, transparent and technology-enabled.’
    • Focus
      • on promoting ease of living and ease of doing business, by considerably enhancing the citizen-government interface. 
        • This involves creation of both functional and behavioural competencies among the civil servants.
    • Pillars 
      • Mission Karmayogi will have the following six pillars: 
        • Policy Framework,
        • Institutional Framework,
        • Competency Framework,
        • Digital Learning Framework (Integrated Government Online Training Karmayogi Platform (iGOT-Karmayogi),
        • electronic Human Resource Management System (e-HRMS), and
        • Monitoring and Evaluation Framework.
    • Coverage 
      • It will cover all civil servants (including contractual employees) across different ministries, departments, organisations and agencies of the Union Government.
      •  The willing state governments will also be enabled to align their capacity building plans on similar lines.
    • Initiatives 
      • The mission has also created an online platform called iGOT-Karmayogi.
        • iGOT stands for Integrated Government Online Training. 
      • It will provide content to learn from global best practices rooted in “Indian ethos”.
        • Civil servants will also have to undertake courses on this platform on which the officers’ performance will be evaluated. 
          • A Special Purpose Vehicle will monitor the platform. 
            • The SPV will be a not-for-profit organisation under Section 8 of the Companies Act.
    • Significance 
      • It will improve human resource management practices among the officers.
      •  It will focus more on role based management. It will aim to allocate roles and jobs based on competencies of the officers.

    Previous Efforts of Government 

    • Before 1985, capacity building of the higher civil services primarily involved two-year induction training. 
      • For the lower civil services there was no training. 
    • In 1985, the then government recognised that a two-year induction training was insufficient for senior officers. 
      • IAS officers were mandated to attend a week-long training annually, and periodic four-week training to allow reflection and learnings.
    • In the early 2000s, the government launched a year-long professional programme in public policy at IIM-Bangalore followed by programmes in IIM Ahmedabad, MDI Gurgaon and TERI University. 
    • The government further strengthened the mid-career training for IAS officers by introducing Phases III, IV and V programmes at three different points of their career, in addition to Phases I and II (induction training). 
      • The rationale was that while the induction programmes equipped IAS officers to be good field officers, they needed different competencies at more senior levels.

    Challenges /Issues 

    • The palpable lack of interest in existing civil services training programmes has troubled administrative reform committees over the decades
    • Outdated rules and procedures that restrict the civil servant from performing effectively
    • Lack of adequate transparency and accountability procedures

    Conclusion and Way Forward 

    • Today, given India’s growth ambition, a massive scale-up in capacity-building is needed both at the political and bureaucratic levels. 
    • As democracies mature, elected representatives will play a more proactive role in policy making. 
      • It is, therefore, imperative that representatives are able to understand the nuances of policy making.
    • The programme must build capability to envision the future and work towards realising it. 
      • It must equip the entire chain of command to coordinate and steer the ship towards a national goal. 
      • A forward-looking mindset that can quickly seize opportunities and foresee threats is critical.
    • Capacity building must aim at building professionals in all domains, from technical experts to generalists. 
    • As policymaking gets more complex, respect for data and evidence-based decision making will gain importance. 
    • The existing institutions and educational centres, as well as the available expertise and knowledge base, can appropriately support training for various grades of civil servants. 

    Source:IE

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