IAS, Other Services Curriculum Improved Significantly: Jitendra Singh

NEW DELHI: The curriculum for newly-recruited officers belonging to the IAS and other all India services has been improved significantly and their initial tenure of service in the central government is giving them good exposure, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said on Sunday.

Addressing a gathering at the diamond jubilee celebrations of the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) here, he said earlier only three all India services were part of the academy's foundation course, but now it has trainees from nearly 20 different services.

"This, besides other advantages, would also instill in them a sense of comradeship and (give) a more harmonious exposure," he said.

Mr Singh recalled that beginning 2016, under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) had started a new experiment of designating young IAS officers as assistant secretaries in the government of India for three months, before they went to their respective state and Union Territory cadre.

This initiative, he said, has been appreciated by the last three batches of IAS officers who went through this process. They got the exposure of the work-culture at the central government and learnt about the Centre's flagship programmes, Mr Singh said, adding that at the same time, the young IAS officers were mentored by their seniors colleagues.

The minister said during the three-month stint at the Centre, these IAS officers got an opportunity to interact with the prime minister on two occasions; once at the beginning of their three months stint at the Centre and then at the conclusion of this period, he said.

"The civil services probationers' curriculum has been sought to be improvised in recent years, ever since the Modi government took over in 2014, and is in the process for further improvisation," he said. What is significant, he said, is that probationers, who are the main stakeholders, have themselves appreciated the improvisation and expressed their gratification about certain changes made.