India and Sri Lanka forge collaboration in administrative reforms and governance

Officials from India and Sri Lanka on Wednesday participated in high-level bilateral discussions aimed at enhancing collaboration in personnel administration and governance. Leading the discussions were V. Srinivas, Secretary of the Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances (DAR&PG) from India, and Anura Dissanayake, Secretary to the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.

Joining the Sri Lankan delegation were Dr. Dharmasri Kumaratunga, Secretary of the Ministry of Technology; Pradeep Yasarathna, Secretary of the Ministry of Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils, and Local Government; and Nalaka Kaluwewe, Director General of the Lanka Institute of Development Administration (SLIDA). From DARPG, senior officials including NBS Rajput, Puneet Yadav, and Jaya Dubey participated in the discussions.

The focus of the dialogue was to delineate the framework for a proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between SLIDA and the National Center for Good Governance (NCGG), with the objective of conducting Capacity Building Programmes (CBP) for senior and mid-level civil servants in Sri Lanka by NCGG.

The director of SLIDA outlined the capacity building plan for Sri Lanka’s Island Service Officers over the next five years, which encompasses collaborative efforts in developing training curricula and delivering training sessions for 1000 officials across various seniority levels through a hybrid approach.

India showcased its expertise in Administrative Reforms and Recognizing Meritocracy through initiatives like the Prime Minister’s Awards Scheme for Public Administration.
Discussions also delved into topics such as leveraging Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning in CPGRAMS for efficient Public Grievance Redressal, and advancing e-Governance initiatives like Unified Service Portals, mandatory e-Services, and bolstering e-Office and its Analytics to enhance service delivery.