India plans to train 1,500 more Bangladeshi civil servants

India plans to train 1,500 more civil servants of Bangladesh by conducting mid-career capacity building programmes on good governance initiatives in the next five years, a top government official of India said yesterday (2 May).

A letter for extension of an existing Memorandum of Understanding in this regard by another five years will be exchanged soon, said V Srinivas, secretary of the Indian Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances.

The extension was decided upon during the visit of an Indian delegation – headed by Srinivas — to Bangladesh from 28-30 April, reports NDTV.

"The two sides agreed on renewal of the existing MoU, which envisages capacity building programmes for 1,500 Bangladesh civil service officers at India's National Centre for Good Governance from 2025 to 2030," Srinivas told PTI.

The programmes for middle and senior management covers new paradigms of governance like project management, public procurement, blue economy and food processing, among others, he said.

He said that the MoU envisages 14 programmes for senior executives and 32 programmes for those at middle management.

The NCGG and the Bangladesh Ministry of Public Administration have collaborated for conducting capacity building programmes for Bangladeshi civil servants since 2014.

Under the bilateral collaboration, 71 capacity building programmes were held and 2,600 Bangladeshi civil servants have visited the NCGG since the collaboration started, Srinivas added.

The Bangladesh government has emphasised on the utility of these training programmes and conveyed interest in renewal of the MoU under which these training programmes are being organised for the next five years, when it expires in 2025, he said.

For the year 2024-25, 12 mid-career capacity building programmes including two for deputy commissioners, have been planned to cover 400 Bangladeshi civil service officers, said Srinivas, a 1989-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Rajasthan cadre.

India's governance model of 'maximum governance-minimum government' by bringing citizens and government closer using technology focuses on digital empowerment of citizens and digital transformation of institutions were presented in NCGG's capacity building programmes in field administration for Bangladesh civil service officers during the visit, he said.

India's administrative reforms focused on recognising meritocracy, benchmarking governance, effective redressal of public grievances, secretariat reforms with focus on e-office, special campaigns to institutionalise 'swachhata' and reducing pendency, zero tolerance to corruption, and improving service delivery were also highlighted by the delegation during the visit, Srinivas said.

The visit of the four-member DARPG delegation to Bangladesh was undertaken on the invitation of the Bangladesh Ministry of Public Administration with focus on the mid-career capacity building programmes in field administration for Bangladeshi civil servants, he said.