Should the training period of IAS Officers be shortened to 75 weeks?

Should the training period of IAS Officers be shortened to 75 weeks?

The Kiran Aggarwal headed Committee is constituted by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) to seek the recommendation on training period of IAS officers. Currently the training period is of 103 weeks and the committee has recommended shortening it to 75 weeks. The recommendations are not in line with the views of director of the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration. Do you agree with the Kiran Aggarwal Committee recommendations to shorten the period of training period of IAS officers to 75 weeks?

Yes

• The longer training durations leads to late entry of IAS officers in their field. As a result they have less years of service left in their career.

• IAS training programmes have undergone many changes but still the changes are not at par with the changing social realties.

• IAS officers will get more time to focus on on-job training rather than wasting their time in the theory and classroom lectures.

• IAS officers can develop their acumen and perspective on many problems if they are given independent charges by assigning them field postings in the district.

• Training is about imparting the knowledge that comes quite handy in the practical areas. The change of duration will be followed by the change in the learning modules with the integration of technology.

• It will help to deal with the problem of shortage of junior-level IAS officers in most of the states.

• Change and flexibility leads to development of country. It is a high time to change the rigid model and convert it to a training model which can impart domain-specific knowledge.

No

• There is a need to improve the content and delivery of training, and not to reduce the training period from 103 weeks to 75 weeks.

• The current structure of training IAS officers is doing no harm and is providing efficient candidates to the country. There seems no need to change.

• Initiating a change in the training period can weaken the administrative area of states, especially at a sensitive time where the country is already facing other major challenges.

• Competition is the key word in today’s world and it is also there between the private and public sector. Shortening of training period can pose developmental challenges for IAS officers.

• There is a need of transformation that can replace the old traditional form of training with the new structure of modern education and training. It still requires time to prepare the IAS officers.

Conclusion

Change is the law of nature. But it doesn’t mean that any kind of change is fruitful to the society. There is a need to change the conventional forms of training. The right use of technology should be made to impart the training. First the new techniques should be implemented and the training period should be kept same. If the results are positive, then the next step to reduce the training period to 75 weeks should be implemented.