Bangalore: IIM-B Professionals to Teach Skills to Karnataka Ministers
S Rajashekara/ENS
Bangalore, Jul 4: In an effort to brush up the administrative and managerial skills of his Cabinet colleagues, Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa has decided to organize a special half-day session for Ministers with professionals from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIM-B).
The course, which was earlier scheduled to have been held on Thursday, was deferred due to political developments. The rescheduled course is likely to be held before the budget session that could start from July 17, sources in the government said. Yeddyurappa’s decision to put his Ministers through the IIM-B workshop stemmed from a suggestion made by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leaders at a meeting held at Justice Rama Jois House a few days ago, sources said.
The letter sent out to all Ministers from the Chief Ministers’ Office on the administrative training workshop at the IIM-B campus read, “To get guidance from administrative experts on file clearance, and on how to interact with officials, among others, you have been advised to attend the workshop at 9.30 am on Thursday, July 3, 2008 at the IIM-B campus.’’ A senior minister told The New Indian Express that since a majority of Ministers were first-time Ministers with no prior knowledge of the nuances of administration and related issues, the training had been organized.
In the past, legislators were given special talks on various issues by experts. Normally, such programmes have been organized by the legislature secretariat. “This is probably the first time that a special session had been organized at an institution like the IIM-B,’’ a senior official said.
Sources in the IIM-B said they had been approached by the government to hold special sessions for half a day for Ministers. Themes are still to be finalized, sources indicated. “Importance of development, Karnataka in the global context, strategies and best practices to be adopted in administration, were among the themes around which discussions and presentations will be made to Ministers,’’ a source said, adding that information about rescheduling training was awaited.