Bhanvi Bansal
Prime Minister stated “Mission Karmayogi is a new experiment of its kind in the direction of capacity building. Through this mission, government employees have to modernize their thinking, and approach and improve their skill set. It is to allow them to become a Karmayogi…”Moreover, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba launched the Approach paper on Annual Capacity Building Plans for Central Ministries and Departments under “Mission Karmayogi”
Abstract
Civil Service is one of the recognized fields that requires reforms to ensure transparency in the recruitment, training, performance, and evaluation of civil servants. Keeping that in mind Civil Services reforms were introduced. As a result “Mission Karmayogi” was launched with the intent to develop the vision of capacity building for Civil Servants. This article offers the sole aim behind the mission and deals with salient features regarding the mission and the impact that has been created with its implementation. This article also highlights pillars, how this mission can be taken forward, and some of the challenges faced during its implementation.
Background
“Civil services constitute the backbone of the Indian administration”. Reforms need to be implemented toward the upliftment of civil services for the development of any economy. Before the implementation of Mission Karmayogi, civil service reform had been evolving since 2014.
To ensure transparency between the government and citizens various citizen-centric measures have been taken such as removing discretion and promoting merit interviews for the post of Group B and C have been discontinued, to make senior appointments appropriate 360-degree appraisal method is being utilized, and enhance the governance through civil services capacity building, path-breaking exercise Aarambh was conducted at the statue of unity ie Kevad RashtriyaEkat Divas in 2019 followed by virtual Aarambh in 2020 then implementing mission Karmayogi.
Introduction
Mission Karmayogi is the National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building (NPCSCB) launched on 2nd September 2020 by the Union Cabinet for 46 lakh civil servants including officers and employees that proposes to lay down the foundations for the Indian civil servants’ capacity building and aims to enhance governance by introducing reform in Indian Bureaucracy.
The apex body of Mission Karmayogi will be chaired by the Prime Minister of India and will include members such as Union Ministers, Chief Ministers, eminent public HR practitioners, thinkers, global thought leaders, and Public Service functionaries. Mission Karmayogi will represent three transitions under, the National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building (NPCSCB). The first transition is a shift in government employees’ perspectives from thinking of themselves as karmacharis to karma yogis.
The second transition is a shift away from holding employees individually accountable for their performance and toward identifying and removing any performance-related obstacles. The final transition involves switching from a rule-based to a role-based public HR management system and the related capacity-building equipment.
Aim of the mission
“Mission Karmayogi aims to create a dedicated workforce not only of the Civil Services but more than that it would serve the cause of Indian society” exclaimed Dr. Jitendra Singh
It aims to make Indian civil servants more creative, constructive, imaginative, innovative, proactive, professional, progressive, energetic, enabling, transparent, and technology-enabled in the coming years. It was necessary to implement because there is a need to develop domain knowledge beyond the administrative scope of the bureaucracy.
There is also a need to regulate and systemize the recruitment process and match the public service to a bureaucrat’s competence to fit the right person to the right job, i.e., the mission seeks to transform human resource management from “rule-based” to “role-based.” This mission also aims to end subjective evaluation and develop scientifically devised and objective assessment techniques.
Salient Features of Mission Karmayogi
Mission Karmayogi signifies the importance of “on-site learning” to complement “off-site learning.”It aimed to ensure an ecosystem of shared training infrastructure that includes learning materials, institutions, and personnel and also pivots to align all civil service positions to a Framework of Roles, Activities, and Competencies(FRACs) approach and to create and deliver learning content relevant to the identified FRACs in every government entity.
It ensures all civil servants get an opportunity to continuously build and strengthen their behavioral, functional, and domain competencies in their liberated and administered learning paths. It also enables all the central ministries and departments, including organizations, to head on and infuse their resources towards co-creation and sharing the collaborative and common ecosystem of learning through an annual financial subscription for every employee. It collaborates with the best-in-class content creators, including public training institutions, universities, start-ups, and individual experts.
Moreover to undertake data analytics in terms of data provided by iGOT-Karmayogi concerning various aspects of capacity building, content creation, user feedback, competency mapping, and identifying areas for policy reform.
iGOT-Karmayogi platform– It is a comprehensive online platform that guides individual civil service officials in their capacity-building journey. It combines five functional hubs for online learning, competency management, career management, discussions, and networking. It will ensure that officials deliver more effectively, resulting in the enhancement of government execution capabilities. These hubs act as a platform that will enable online, face-to-face, and blended learning by facilitating discussions through topical forums, managing career paths, and enabling reliable assessments that credibly signal the competencies of officials.
It also imparts tools through which departments and managers can monitor and mentor officials, and it delivers anytime-anywhere-any-device learning to train about 2 crore users, which was previously not attainable through traditional measures. Similarly, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), namely “Karmayogi Bharat,” would be set up as a not-for-profit company that would be set up under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013, and will be a 100% government-owned entity.
The SPV will be responsible for delivering and managing the design, implementation, enhancement, and management of a digital platform and infrastructure, managing and delivering competency assessment services, managing the governance of telemetry data, and ensuring the provision of monitoring and evaluation. The task force will submit its recommendations on the organizational structure for the SPV, aligning its vision, mission, and functions.
To make the mission successful ISTM was lauded for launching 75 courses on the Karmayogi Digital Learning Lab platform, totaling 75 hours of digital content. As a result, this capacity-building commemorates India’s 75th anniversary of independence.
Pillars of the mission Karmayogi
This mission has 6 pillars that are as follows:
- Policy Framework
- Institutional Framework
- Competency Framework
- Digital Learning Framework
- Electronic Human Resource Management System (e-HRMS)
- Monitoring and Evaluation Framework
Impact during times of Covid
- Department of Personnel and Training collaborated with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on an online learning platform‘iGOT-COVID’ launched on 7 May 2020.
- It was used as an alternative line of defense that includes (volunteers from the NCC, NSS, NYKS, and Ex-Servicemen) that provides customized learning content to various covid warriors.
- Over six months, more than 13 lakh COVID warriors were trained through this platform, there was the enrolment of 29.1 Lakh Courses, which constitute 19.1 Lakh Course completions and out of which 15.1 Lakh Certificates were issued.
- But it was expected that mission Karmayogi would directly benefit about 1.50 crore government officials in the long run.
- Remarkably more beneficiaries will get welfare with the program amplifying impact on millions of citizens who get empowered by the civil service.
Source: PIB GOI
Challenges
- Because it is human nature to resist change, it presents a challenge to the bureaucracy that may jeopardize its current state of affairs.
- People need to shift from a generalized version of knowledge to a specialized form, so bureaucrats may need time to metamorphose themselves.
- With the increasing inversion of technology in our day-to-day lives, it becomes necessary to update oneself and attain the required skills and technical knowledge.
- Thus, it requires a behavioral change in the bureaucracy and should be embraced as the need of the hour.
- Moreover, online courses can also hinder officers’ efficiency as they can use them as a tool and an opportunity to go on sabbatical leaves.
- It becomes difficult to ensure that they are attending the courses and participating in them so that the purpose doesn’t get defeated.
Conclusion
Implementation of this reform is not a cup of tea, but it can result in a tremendous revolution in the Indian bureaucracy, e.g., in the case of Ashok Khemka, the IAS officer from Haryana, who has been transferred 52 times so far in his career as he wants to ensure transparency in the bureaucracy. Moreover equally responsible are the political implications of transfers, which also need to be addressed. Though it is accepted throughout the nation, it’s also true that bureaucratic inertia is only one side of the coin. So we all need to join our hands together and ensure this mission is implemented for the upliftment of our society.
Way Forward
To make this reform a success, we need to develop a diverse and decentralized learning system. Hierarchical measures and bureaucratic processes can stifle modernization, even among highly skilled workers. Alternatively, the culture in which competencies are passed down is as important as the competencies themselves. So we need to develop an approach that favors diversity and ensures balance in the varied nature of human nature.
Analysis
To cover around 46 lakhs, Central employees, a budget of ₹5110.86 crores has been authorized to be spent over the next five years i.e. from 2020-21 to 2024-25 for the implementation of the mission. The expenditure is going to be partly funded by multilateral assistance to the tune of $50 million.
So, I believe the implementation of the mission was necessary for continued survival in this dynamic world and especially civil servants need to metamorphosis their skills according to the requirement of the country and for that continuous upgradation in one’s knowledge and skills is a must and it could be properly and efficiently provided through the mission Karmayogi. This mission can be a great success if it is implemented transparently.
References
Mission Karmayogi – National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building/ Byju’s
Mission Karmayogi/Department of Personnel & Training Government Of India.
(2022, October 13)/ Mission Karmyogi: An attempt to change the face of civil services | The Indian Express/ Indian Express
Latest News, Videos, and Photos of Mission Karmayogi | Times of India
What is Mission Karmayogi?/Business Standard
Mission Karmayogi | Capacity Building Commission/ CBC government
