Servant Leader - A.T.I. Newsletter

(June-July,2007)

Appreciation from His Excellency, The Governor of West Bengal, Sri Gopal Krishna Gandhi

Servant Leader', the first issue of new ATI Newsletter was sent to His Excellency, the Governor of West Bengal. His Excellency has appreciated the design and contents of the Newsletter suggesting documentation of successful governance initiatives by Civil Servants at various levels of administration and publication of those in the forthcoming issues.

ATI Monograph titled "A Probationer's Training Diary", written by Sri P. Bhattacharya, IAS, Ph.D., Additional Chief Secretary and Director, ATI, Government of West Bengal during his training days as Assistant Magistrate and Assistant Collector, Malda has been specially complimented by the Governor of West Bengal. He mentioned that it reminded him of his probation vividly. The other ATI Monographs sent to him were also appreciated.

The Monograph "Peoples' Entitlement under Government Schemes" has been described by the Governor as a laudable effort compiling a wide range of Government Schemes. He suggested that some other Government initiatives in the fields of Right To Information, Employment Guarantee, Protection of Women against Domestic Violence, Prevention of Atrocities against SC/ST, Judicial remedies and recent amendments of Cr.P.C. etc. may also be included in the Monograph in its revised version, grouping the schemes under different sectoral heads like social, economic and welfare sectors.

ATI is highly enthused to receive such appreciation from His Excellency and records its most sincere gratitude for the same.

MARCHING TOWARDS EXCELLENCE

GOWB has declared ATI, West Bengal as a Centre for Excellence.
GOWB has declared ATI, West Bengal as the State Nodal Organisation under National e-Govemance Programme.
Projects Standing Committee of Government of India and UNDP Project expressed its appreciation for the efforts of ATI, West Bengal in preparing the ToT Manual on "Strengthening State Plans for Human Development" and requested other State Governments to put it to use as well as avail the facilities of ATI, West Bengal.
Department of Personnel and Training, Government of India has declared ATI, West Bengal as the State Implementing Agency for the UNDP assisted project on "Capacity Building for Access to Information with referance to Right To Information Act, 2005".
Department of Personnel and Training of GOI has selected four States - Maharashtra, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu to develop a replicable and transferable training model under DFID - DoPT project on "Capacity Building for poverty reduction (training component)".

VOICES FROM THE NEWS DESK

What Ails Thee

John Keats, the great romantic poet of early nineteenth century England wrote a short poem after the premature death of his brother. The poem starts with the line, "What ails thee knight at arms..." The poet was grieving over the sad demise of a budding young man who had contracted tuberculosis and died, supposedly failing to bear the deep seated trauma of a failed relationship with a treacherous lady. She used to send him fake love letters, only to satiate her hunger for fiendish pleasure of betraying the innocent feelings of a lovelorn heart.

Mention of the incident here may appear to be out of context for many but it is not quite so. Actually, what we seek to focus upon as a case in point, and also in contrast, is the perpetual fact that trauma, trials and tribulations, frustrations, unkept promises, unfulfilled dreams, demolished ideals and unfinished journeys are hard realities of life. But looked at with the right kind of objectivity they are only of seeming significance and do not constitute the ultimate enduring truth. These are potential threats and all of us are at constant risk of getting exposed every moment to any of these nightmares. Then, who doesn't know that nightmares are simply bad dreams that use our troubled psyche to breed upon, only to melt into nothingness at the break of daylight?

Under the increasing shadow of global consumerism and the fast eroding foundation of the time-tested values the famous saying of Bhagavad Gita,"ma phalesu kadachana" which would carry considerable credence even for a common man till a few days back, is now just a casual quote dropped in derision during party time revelry. As a sure fall out, millions of common population who still give peace of mind, plain, simple and untainted way of living precedence over lavish life style secured by dubious means, are finding it hard to cope with many emerging issues. The salaried employees, particularly working in government organizations have now much to complain about their compensation package compared to their counterparts in commercial establishments, lack of or very slender scope of career mobility, poor performance appraisal, absence of appropriate reward-punishment mechanism, rational posting policy etc. This scenario is liable to ail our knight-at-arms, the real heroes who keep the system moving. Nothing instant is surely in sight to cheer up them with concrete consolation as things will take time to change. But should this ail them to extinction like it happened in case of the vulnerable sibling of the poet? Abraham Lincoln in a letter to the headmaster of his son's boarding school wrote at a place,"....... teach him that for every scoundrel there is a hero.. .for every selfish politician there is a dedicated leader...." and Milton also wrote, "Every cloud has a silver lining". Verbose, as they may seem to be—and one Abraham Lincoln or one Milton is a character the world sees once in a century—but is it not true that we come across at least a few unsung heroes of no unequal strength of mind, talent and determination around us to inspire as a beacon of light with their examples of dynamism, valour and never failing values in the midst of all odds?

The present columnist has had the good fortune of knowing two such profiles in courage and undaunted spirit of challenge against all adversities who have been no achievers in the conventional sense, money and fame.The first one, a highly erudite scholar of Indian classical wisdom was once on the point of resigning from the post of professor of financial management in an institute of national importance, had he been prevented from setting up a management centre for human values and teaching the subject to the students of the business school he served for.Single-handed he went from one corporate house to another, convincing them of the need to re-infuse traditional Indian values into their ethos and ultimately put together a corpus of four crores of rupees for running the centre. He retired some years back and is now busier than before imparting experiential training on human values at the highest levels of commercial and government organisations, criss-crossing the country and the globe. The other one, a man of erudition of equal depth and multifarious dimensions, having more than twenty five highly acclaimed published works to his credit, effected magical changes in all establishments where he got posted, even in the most moribund ones, in his career of thirty six years in the highest echelon of state administration. He is now arranging his kit to say goodbye finally on 30th June. Those who know him from close quarters can swear that the enthusiasm he showed on the first day of his entry in the IAS will show no sign of waning on the day he signs off. At sixty he will remain as young as twenty four and will continue to enrich the world around us, freed from his shackles, on a broader scale with gifts out of his multi-faceted genius. They and their likes, though not many in number, are real life knights-at-arms we get to know in our circles. Nothing can ail them and they will be always somewhere to shield us from ailments we may fall prey to.

The busy bee has no time for sorrow.

TRAINING STRATEGY IN DISASTER MANAGEMENT

Effective management of disaster, be it natural or man-made, calls for participation of people from all the cross-sections of the society. It is the society which faces huge loss in terms of lives and property due to the impact of disaster.

India is a disaster-prone country and West Bengal being one of its States is also multi hazard prone. Almost all kinds of natural hazards having the potential to turn into disasters occur in our State.

For many years, the response to the disasters was mainly reactive. More recently, however, our attitude has changed and the 'response mechanism', now, means a more elaborate proactive design for projects and policies at all levels,

With the technical knowledge in place, it is now possible to protect the society against some natural hazards through engineering and planning techniques. Stronger houses can be built according to building standards and codes. Land use planning can be aimed to prevent residential areas from being situated in the hazardous zone.

As an instrument to increase non-structural capacity in the field of disaster management, our strategy is to design training courses which can cater to the need of all the stakeholders. The stakeholders in this field of disaster management are not only the government officials but also the Panchayat and municipal functionaries, persons from Non Government Organisations (NGO) and Civil Bodies Organisations (CBO) and the local level volunteers from the community. The government officials are drawn from the general administrations and also from the line departments including the engineering departments. Their training needs obviously are different. However, our training designs are generally to cope with these different entry behaviours of these trainees who are coming from different social backgrounds.

Some of our training courses deal with the broader aspects of disaster management in general along with the outline knowledge inputs on causes of occurrence and types, vulnerability and management of commonly occurring disasters in our State. There are other courses which are specifically on disasters like flood, drought, cyclone, landslides, earthquake, etc.

To cater to the need of the stakeholders at the grass-roots level we have designed courses like "Training of Trainers on Disaster Management (ToT)". This is basically to create a 'trainers pool' by which training can be imparted at the district and sub-district levels to increase the capacity and competence of the volunteers, members of Panchayats and urban local bodies and members of NGOs, CBOs etc.

There are also some training courses based on cross-cutting issues like 'gender issues', 'psychosocial issues', 'school safety' in disaster management, 'disaster and development', 'urban risk mitigation' etc.

These apart, for the last two years we are imparting foundation level training for the Relief Officers. This three week long course has specifically been designed for them and has inputs on different aspects of disaster management on one hand and office procedures, noting and drafting, duties and obligations of public servants etc. on the other.

In the year 2006-07 we have been able to conduct 25 training courses with the participation of 455 trainees in total.

During 2007-08 our strategy is to create more training days with the participation of a larger number of participants. Some new courses have been designed and incorporated in the training calendar. A few courses have also been assigned to the Regional Training Centres (RTC) so that trainings can be conducted in a decentralized manner.

Thus, our basic approach is to strengthen the institutional mechanism in the sphere of disaster management and also creation of a well coordinated work force for effective management of disaster.

MANAGING URBAN ISSUES AND PLANNING FOR BETTER LIVING

Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992 the major emphasis was given on the decentralization of the planning,development and management by Local Bodies in the urban areas. The consequences of the said Amendment have made the capacity building of ULBs for the said responsibilities a priority. The major thrust areas for the new responsibility remained in the sector of providing safe drinking water, road and transport, sanitation, electricity, affordable housing and a regular management system of the solid waste. At the same time the public health, education, environment also has been given importance. To achieve a better living in the Urban areas the preparation of Draft Development Plan (DDP) is encompassing the vision, strategy and plan of physical and social infrastructures in the urban areas.

In order to achieve the desired living condition in the urban areas, on the other, for timely and quicker varieties of reforms agenda to be undertaken are also envisaged in the national, also envisaged in the national, also envisaged in the national, also envisaged in the national, also envisaged in the national, and state and ULB levels. Beside preparation of DDP the implementation of Citizens Charter, introduction of Double entry accounting in the municipality are important among them. The introduction of e-governance has also made it possible in the municipalities to create a citizen friendly and transparent local government.

For varieties of works the Urban Management Centre at ATI, was set up in December 2000 in collaboration with HUDCO for undertaking training, capacity building and research activities in housing, urban management and related areas. The Centre conducts training programmes for elected representatives as well as administrative, financial and technical personnel of urban local bodies in urban management, planning, governance, finance and delivery of services. It also conducts research and case studies in relevant areas.

Activities in the year 2006-07

Induction and In-service Residential Training of Assistant Managers of Kolkata Municipal Corporation is being organized through Institute of Urban Management (IUM, a department of KMC) under the Capacity Building Programme of KMC funded by DFID. Thirteen batches of such orientation have been done already. Regional workshop consisting Bihar, Orissa and Sikkim, one conference in collaboration with Institute of Town Planners India (ITPI) and one workshop in Baidyabati Municipality were also held. In addition to that four In - service training programmes for the Executive officers and Engineers were held under KUSP programme.
A training module for the attitudinal orientation of elected representatives and a Monograph on Urban Management has also been prepared.
UMC has arranged for handholding support to and appraisal of ten Urban Local Bodies in the Kolkata Metropolitan Area for preparation of Draft Development Plan, 2007-2012 under the KUSP (Kolkata Urban Services for the Poor) programme, besides preparation of Development Plan of Non Municipal urban centres of West Bengal under the direction and assistance from Municipal Affairs Dept, Government of West Bengal.
Professor and Assistant Professor of UMC attended Annual Conference of HUDCO Chair institutes on 9th March in New Delhi. The activities of UMC for the year 2006-07 were presented. This was appreciated.

New areas of Training and Innovation

Sponsored Training: UMC is happy to announce that all 22 trainings, workshops etc. for the year 2006-07 were sponsored trainings.
Vertical Interactive Session in the Training: UMC introduced vertical interaction session on the concluding day with the client authority and the participants for further reinforcement of learning and transfer of learning.
I Post-Training Evaluation: Post - training evaluation was arranged by questionnaire survey after one & half months among the participants and their peer groups. Transfer of learning, more involvement of trainees in the training could be achieved by practising such approach.

TRAINING THE TRAINERS

With the recognition of training as an important avenue for development, during the last few years, the scope and application of training have considerably widened. While, largely it still remains a key tool from enhancing job related performance and organisational effectiveness, its value is being increasingly acknowledged in engendering behavioural changes and in developing life skills, leading to personal growth. It works not only in work space but also in life space.

Considering the importance of training, National Training Policy has set the following training objectives:-

Keeping up-to-date and enhancing professional knowledge and skills needed for better performance of individuals and organizations.
Promoting better understanding of professional requirements as well as sensitization of professional, socio-economic and political environment in which work is done; and
Bringing about the right attitudinal orientation. If we are to fulfil the training objectives as highlighted in the National Training Policy the training institutions and the organisations are required to be closer. Training Manager in the organisation is to make a bridge between the organisation and the training institution.

There are several training models to achieve the target of improving performance. In the Government Sector, in India two models namely Systematic Approach to Training (SAT) and Experiential Learning models are widely used.

Systematic Approach to Training

It starts with the Identification of training needs. To identify the training needs is the primary responsibility of the organisation. In order to develop the competence of identifying training needs in the organisation, Department of Personnel & Training, Govt of India has developed the training module on Training Needs Analysis (TNA). The course has three distinct features, each helping participants to develop their Consultancy Skills and understanding of TNA namely Distance Learning, two weeks' consultancy skills workshop and TNA Consultancy project. ATI conducts this course regularly to develop TNA consultants for the organisations so that they can use them to identify the training needs of the organisation. We have conducted three such courses and developed 56 (fifty-six) participants during the last three years.

Design of Training (DOT) is the second stage of SAT Cycle. Department of Personnel & Training, Govt, of India has developed this package in collaboration with the Thames Valley University, U.K. The DOT course is developed for people who have already completed the course in Direct Trainer Skills and have some experience of direct training. This course consists of a five-day workshop followed by an individual project. We have conducted six courses and developed 75 (seventy five) trainers during last three years.

In order to provide opportunities for the development of basic instructional skills, DOPT in collaboration with Thames Valley University has developed Direct Trainer Skills (DTS) Course. This is a short intensive course with plenty of activity. ATI is regularly organising the DTS course. In last three years we have conducted six courses and 115 (one hundred fifteen) participants have been trained.

Investment in training can only be justified if it leads to improved performance. It is the primary responsibility of the organisation. They are keen to know the result of the training.

In order to develop this competence in the organisation, DOPT has developed "Evaluation of Training" course. The course has three distinct features each helping participants to develop skills and understanding of Evaluation of Training, Distance Learning Workshop and EOT Project.

ATI is organising this course on a regular basis since 2006-07. We have so far conducted two courses and developed 44 (forty four) participants.

CAPTURING VIBRATING THOUGHTS

The past sixty years of independence have shaped up India into a mature democracy. Carrying on governance by democratically elected governments, the bureaucracy has also undergone a sea change. The rule books are there in place to guide them in their functioning. However, at the implementation stage they often come across sharp turning points where the rule books do not speak much. At times there are lots of upheavels. But the bureaucrat has to tackle the situation and come up with the best of solution. Under such situation he has to fall back upon his intelligence and common sense. Lots of thought process go around in this endeavour and ultimately turn into realisation once success is achieved. Unfortunately, there is no set procedure to pass on these realisations from one generation of bureaucrats to another so as to use them for the benefits of the society.

Administrative Training Institute, West Bengal has made a noble attempt to capture these vibrating thoughts through a series of monographs and case studies. A 'Publication Committee' is working on this. Monographs on the following themes have already been published and are available to the trainees of the Institute as well as administrators :

The Right Attitude in Work and the Right Spirit
Training Material on West Bengal Financial Rules and Office Procedures
Training Material on West Bengal Service Rules
Manual of Training for Government Officials
The Philosophy of Service by Swami Ranganathananda
Readings in Public Administration - Part I & II
Law for the Executive Magistrates (Certain Area of Relevance and Importance) - Part I & II
Administrative Report in India by N. C. Saxena
Maintenance of Law and Order by Suresch C. Vaish
A Probationers Training Diary by P. Bhattacharya
A handbook on "Peoples' Entitlement"
Inspections

The 'Publication Committee' is working on some more papers, which may come out as monographs shortly. Important among these are Appu Papers, Bureaucracy, Values in Administration and Law & Order.

A number of case studies written by Faculty Members and also trainees are under consideration of the Case Study Committee. These case studies, when published, would surely help in emanating new thoughts from the trainee officers.

Governor has been pleased to approve of the opening of a new head of account for collection of fees from the Information Seekers for the purpose of supplying information as per following details:-

"0070-Other Administrative Services-60-Other Services-800-Other Receipts-021 -Collection of Fees from Information Seeker for the purpose of servicing Information-27 Other Receipts"

For any further queries contact Nodal Officer, SIA at the address given below/ or Secretary, State Information Commission, Bhabani Bhavan, 2nd Floor, Alipur, Kolkata-700027, Phone:(033) 2479-1966/2008

Inserted in public interest by the RTI Cell of Administrative Training Institute, Government of West Bengal, FC Block, Sector - III, Kolkata - 700 106. Phone No.: (033) 2337 - 3818/4015/0647/0120/4043

Edited and published by Gautam Sengupta WBCS (Exe.), Dy. Director, Administrative Training Institute , FC Block, Sector III, Salt Lake, Kolkata 700 106, Phone : 2337-0120, 2337-4043, Fax : 2337-4015

E mail : dirati@vsnl.net, Printed by : The Tradelink,

Kolkata - 700 006, Phone: 93310 54369