Concept note on initiative of Orientation Training for officials at

various levels in the Ministries/Departments

1.

Background

Training Division, Department of Personnel and Training has been conducting

Induction Training for the officials at various levels. However this training relates
to the day to day work relating to noting, drafting and other general aspects of the
work of the Ministries/Departments. No domain specific knowledge as well as
familiarity with the Ministries/Departments activities, policies and flag ship
programmes is provided in the aforesaid Programmes. This is a significant gap,
and has bearing on the job performance of the officials newly posted to the
various ministries/departments of the Government of India. These officials in
their work are called upon to comment on/formulate policies and programmes of
the Ministry in which they are posted and non familiarity with the domain, client
group organisational knowledge and existing programmes and policies becomes
a significant handicap.
In the aforesaid context Department of Administrative Reforms and Public
Grievances under the Capacity Building for Poverty Reduction programmes,
proposes a structured Induction programmes for officials at the time of joining a
Ministry/Department on posting/deputation or transfer.

2.

Objective of the Initiative

The goal of the Programme is to help officers joining a Ministry/Department on

posting, transfer, deputation to reach the level of performance expected from an
experienced officer in the department quickly. This is expected to help in the
following:

The policies/ programmes designed/implemented by the new officers will

be informed by the existing institutional knowledge of the department as
well as an appreciation of the domain , ground realities, organisation's
mission, goals, values and philosophy
The new officer will get an appreciation of the culture of the
Ministry/Department in which he /she is posted and will help the officer
get integrated into the working of the department quickly
By making the learning curve steep, would result in increasing efficiency
and saving in resources for the Government of India.

3.

Expectations in terms of ethics, integrity, responsibility, job content etc. of

the Department from the new officer are clarified upfront.

Content of Training

While the actual training will be designed after a Training Needs Analysis, some
of the possible contents of the induction training programme may include:

General training relating to the organisation, including values and

philosophy as well as structure and history, citizen charter, organisation
overview and structure, whos is who , housekeeping issues, general
administration etc.
Appreciation of legal/technical aspects
Existing programs/policies of the department
Key statistics data

Training Methods to be used will customised as per the TNA and is expected to
be a sub set of the following:

4.

mentoring
on the job coaching
delegated tasks and projects
attending internal briefings and presentations
special responsibilities which require obtaining new skills or knowledge or
exposure
internet and e-learning
visits to the field organisation
attachment to project or other teams

Timelines

The training is expected to be of 2-3 weeks including field visit

5.

Target Group

Section Officer, Under Secretary, Deputy Secretary, Director level officers newly
posted to a Central Government Ministry/Department
6.

Implementation

Under the initiative, the induction training would be piloted in five

Ministries/Departments of the Government of India. The pilots would help in
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standardisation of the induction training protocol and design. The design of the
training and development of training material would be done by ISTM (Institute
of Secretarial Training and Management). ISTM would also provide handholding
support to the pilot Ministries/Departments. Once the training design is tested
and the efficacy of induction training established, the same can be extended to the
remaining Ministries/Departments. However beyond the pilot phase, the cost of
the induction training would be borne by the respective Ministries/Departments.
Making the induction training mandatory will also be explored. The pilot
departments/ministries to be selected would include those which has a mandate
having bearing on policies/programmes for the poor.

7.

How does the initiative fit into the CBPR Programme

One of the key planks of the CBPR Programme is strengthening of organisations

and processes directly or indirectly related to service delivery. The initiative will
provide reinforcement to the new inductees in a given central government
Ministry/Department to get integrated and become conversant with its policies,
processes and programs. This is expected to substantially improve the on the job
performance of the new officers and reflect positively in the deliverables. This
initiative also conforms to the programme intent of building collaborative
relationships with the Union Line Ministries