India, Sri Lanka Discuss Collaboration in Personnel Administration and Governance

GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 15th Feb. Top officials from India and Sri Lanka engaged in bilateral talks on Wednesday in New Delhi, focusing on enhancing collaboration in the crucial domains of Personnel Administration and Governance.

Led by V. Srinivas, Secretary of the Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances (DAR&PG), and Anura Dissanayake, Secretary to the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, the discussions aimed to explore avenues for mutual cooperation between the two nations in these vital areas.

The Sri Lankan delegation, comprising Dr. Dharmasri Kumaratunga, Secretary of the Ministry of Technology; Mr. Pradeep Yasarathna, Secretary of the Ministry of Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils, and Local Government; and Mr. Nalaka Kaluwewe, Director General of the Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration (SLIDA), engaged in fruitful discussions with senior officials of DARPG, including Shri NBS Rajput, Shri Puneet Yadav, and Smt. Jaya Dubey.

One of the key highlights of the discussions was the modalities of a proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration (SLIDA) and the National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG).

The MOU aims to conduct Capacity Building Programmes (CBP) for senior and mid-level civil servants of Sri Lanka by NCGG. During the talks, the Director of SLIDA presented a comprehensive Capacity Building Plan for the Island Service Officers of Sri Lanka over the next five years, emphasizing collaboration in developing training curricula and conducting training sessions for 1000 officials at various seniority levels in a hybrid mode.

India, on its part, showcased its key capabilities in Administrative Reforms and Recognizing Meritocracy under the Prime Minister’s Awards Scheme for Public Administration. Additionally, India highlighted its initiatives in handling Public Grievances through effective Redressal by leveraging AI/ML in CPGRAMS and improving Service Delivery through the promotion of e-Governance, including Unified Service Portals, mandatory e-Services, and strengthening e-Office and its Analytics.

Both sides agreed to structure the contours of collaboration within an MOU to be developed jointly, signaling a firm commitment towards fostering closer ties in the realm of Personnel Administration and Governance.