Shillong: In an effort to motivate officials within the state government, the Meghalaya Cabinet on Friday approved a proposal that will facilitate financial support for tuition fees, covering expenses up to a maximum of Rs 15 lakh, for mid-career sponsored courses.
Mid-career sponsored courses will serve as a training facility for senior-level officers belonging to All India services, Meghalaya Civil Service (MCS), Meghalaya Police Service (MPS), Forest, and Finance services.
Cabinet Minister Paul Lyngdoh stated that this initiative aims to incentivise officers to continue learning by pursuing courses at various universities offering higher degree and diploma programmes.
The conditions state that officers will not take any leave during the training, nor will they be granted study leave. They will be able to undertake such courses during weekends or after office hours.
The identified courses include MBA for working professionals offered by IIM Shillong, Masters in Public Policy, an online course provided by the OP Jindal Global University, Professional Certificate Programs, and Data Sciences AI offered by the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore, or the University of Maryland, among several other programs.
Lyngdoh also explained that officers with at least seven years of remaining service should undertake the course on a part-time basis without study leave. Additionally, each year, the government will sponsor up to three officers who gain admission to a government-approved course of study.
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“The whole idea is that we need to upscale the efficiency of our officers, a lot of what the government is trying to do suffers when officers are not qualified enough to understand some of the nitty-gritties of administration,” said Lyngdoh. He further explained that issues like unclear notations on files indicate a lack of depth in the officer’s understanding.
He added that in such cases, they have access to facilities like online courses and the IIM, so they will take advantage of such courses.
Lyngdoh also informed that this amount that the government is investing is also reimbursable, in the case that the official concerned fails to complete the course or fails to successfully achieve results.
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