DOWN THE MEMORY LANE: DR MCR HRD INSTITUTE
Premier Administrative Training Center of Telangana State
Vanam Jwala
Narasimha Rao
The Hans
India (27-08-2023)
(The duo BP Acharya (Mainly)
and MP Sethy were responsible for starting or conducting prestigious programs
that included, Orientation Training to Government Employees including HoDs through
Centre for Telangana Studies; LBSNAA sponsored Foundation Courses (FC) for All
India Services and Central Civil Services; Special FC for backlog AIS officers;
FC for IES and ISS officers; First Ever FC for Military Engineering Service; FC
for ASOs of Central Secretariat; Training on Soft Skills to over a lakh State’s
field staff under DOPT E-Learning Program etc. – Observation by Editor, The
Hans India)
Two months
ago, when Telangana CM K Chandrashekhar Rao mentioned that Training to
political leaders in ‘Effective Leadership,’ would be imparted, I
recollected, down the memory lane, my Nine Years Spell in the Premier Administrative
Training Center of Government of Telangana, the Dr MCR Human Resource Development Institute (Dr MCR HRD I), as Faculty, Senior Faculty
and Additional Director.
Following recommendation of VT Krishnamachari, to facilitate training for
all civil and technical services and suggestion by Government of India in 1962,
the Institute of Administration (IOA) was set-up in erstwhile AP in March, 1976.
This was renamed as Dr MCR HRDI later. V Narayana Rao
was the first Director General. An eminent administrator and illustrious
person, PVRK Prasad’s everlasting contribution as Director General (DG) for
over 7 years, triggered transformation of the Institute, that has come to stay
as a widely accepted and internationally acclaimed center.
When PVRK took charge in 1996, institute
confined to organizing traditional, rule-based, class room oriented and
monotonous training programs with no precise aim or objective. Additional DG
Urmila Subba Rao, from whom PVRK took charge, was responsible for capacity and
capability building in the Institute and who in fact, initiated process of
building the institute. I still remember meeting the then Chief Minister
Chandrababu Naidu with her several times, who evinced keen interest in developing
the Institute. For the professional aspects of training, the entire credit goes
to MP (Mahavir Prasad) Sethy, whose contribution has no parallel.
Following guidelines of National
Training Policy (NTP), ‘State Training Initiative’ (STI)
drafted by Urmila Subbarao was launched with the concept of ‘Training for
All’ (TFA). Institute’s infrastructural facilities by adding
two more floors to the existing building, well-furnished training rooms,
auditoriums, Conference and Mini Conference Halls, Board Room, indoor and
outdoor sports facilities including swimming pool, gymnasium, and hostel
blocks, were brought to the ‘State of Art’ level. HRD’s sprawling
33-acre campus in Jubilee Hills blossoms with a lush green area. A separate
complex to accommodate, ‘Centre for Good Governance’ (CGG)
was set-up in the Institute campus, which too was headed by PVRK initially as
DG. Tony Blair the then UK Prime Minister came all the way from England to
inaugurate it.
Joining the Institute on September 5,
1995 when Dr V Chandramauli was DG, I worked for 9 years, till August 31, 2004
and was a part and parcel in its phased development and total transformation, into
a world class HRD and Training Center. The day I joined hardly people knew Institutes’
exact location since it was little familiar. In the initial days, faculty often
had to wait for trainee participants anxiously and desperately at the entrance
for their training programs, who were always same for every program. Budget allocation
was negligible. But, as the days passed, the Institute was credited with, being
the earliest one to implement NTP Guidelines in letter and spirit adopting to
the needs of state. Infrastructural facilities were multiplied. The then CM
Chandrababu Naidu and his cabinet colleagues made frequent visits to the
institute.
Besides PVRK and Urmila Subbarao, it
was a privilege for me to work with Distinguished Administrators of the stature
of VK Srinivasan, PP Williams, PV Rao, Raghottam Rao, AK Parida, A Chengappa, R
Seetharama Rao, MP Sethy, Ranjana Shiva Shankar, Usha Ashok Kumar, Rani
Kumudini etc. as my senior Colleagues and DGs. Hierarchy was seldom observed. M
Narayana Rao, Dr P Dayachari, Pankaj Dwivedi, Dr Virendra Jauhari, Ajoyendra
Pyal, Md Shafiquz Zaman, Dr Prashanta Mahapatra, SK Sinha, Lakshmi
Parthasarathi, Vinod K Agrawal, BP Acharya, Harpreet Singh, Benhur Mahesh Dutt Ekka,
and Dr Shashank Goel, whose contribution is equally significant, headed the
Institute subsequently.
By attending several Trainer-Training
Programs, generally organized by ‘Institute of Secretariat Training and
Management’ (ISTM) of the Government of India (GOI),
‘Department of Personnel and Training’ (DOPT), in
New Delhi, I acquired professional qualifications necessary for training
delivery effectively. First among them, ‘Systematic Approach to Training’
(SAT), enabled me to impress Urmila Subbarao, then in charge DG, to
initiate ‘Training Needs Analysis’ (TNA) that ultimately
led to OMR formats based massive TNA of all the 11 lakh
government employees, the first of its kind in the Country!!!
‘Management of Training’
(MOT) Course, ‘Director Trainer Skills’ (DTS),
‘Design of Training’ (DOT), ‘Trainer Training
Course in DTS’ to become ‘Recognized User’
to run DTS Course etc. also I attended, in addition to many more such programs.
I was selected to attend a three week ‘Trainer Training Program’
in Thames valley University (Slough, UK) based on the Training Module ‘Reform
Initiatives in Administration’ designed, developed, and piloted by me.
Organizing a diversity of training programs
as Training Coordinator and Faculty, it was a Joint Learning on administration.
These included training 9 batches of IAS Probationers (Assistant Collectors
under training) during their Institute Attachment and also Group 1 and 2 Officers
Foundation Training. Almost all participants of these programs have been in
constant touch with me exchanging pleasantries despite working in senior
positions. When the first ever Training Program for the entire Cabinet
including the then CM for three days in 1999 was held, for which Experts in
various fields were invited as guest faculty, I was coordinating it.
At a time when Training was an
identified priority area in Government scheme of things, to seek commitment of
HoDs, who included senior IAS Officers, a unique ‘Orientation to
Management of Training’ (OMOT) Module was designed and developed
by me in consultation with MP Sethy during later 90s. About 150 senior and
junior IAS officers, as well as HODs of erstwhile AP attended these series of three
days duration workshops. OMOT was later adopted by Nationwide Training
Institutes. Governing for Results, Land Reforms, Tribal Welfare, Forest
Development, Human Rights, Disaster Management, Media and Public Relations,
Communication and Effective Leadership Skills, Role of NGOs, Citizen Charters,
Child Labor, Right to Information etc. were other programs designed, developed,
and implemented by me.
At a time when MCR HRD launched STI
and was in search of high-profile Master Trainer, on my suggestion, the then DG
PVRK Prasad, on obtaining MP Sethy’s consent, proceeded with the process of
bringing him on deputation to MCR HRDI from his parent ‘Indian Naval Stores
Management Service’ where he was in a senior position. Sethy even now is THE
TOP RANKER MASTER TRAINER who had undergone training in Thames Valley
and responsible for designing many Trainer Training Programs in the country
including drafting ‘National Training Policy.’
At one stage, PVRK requested intervention
of the then CM to speak to Defense Minister George Fernandez to expedite the
process. Sethy joined the Institute in a very Senior Position and soon, Institute’s
Capacity and Capability function touched sky high. Even after his term
was over and even after his retirement, on my suggestion, (Now 70+ years) Sethy
accepted a visiting assignment during BP Acharya’s period as DG and still
offering his services on request.
The duo BP Acharya (Mainly) and MP Sethy
were responsible for starting or conducting prestigious programs that included,
Orientation Training to Government Employees including HoDs through Centre for
Telangana Studies; LBSNAA sponsored Foundation Courses (FC) for All India
Services and Central Civil Services; Special FC for backlog AIS officers; FC
for IES and ISS officers; First Ever FC for Military Engineering Service; FC
for ASOs of Central Secretariat; Training on Soft Skills to over a lakh State’s
field staff under DOPT E-Learning Program etc.
With lot of Admiration for Training
and Premier MCR HRD Institute, I sincerely feel that Training Should continue
to be Identified Priority Area in Government Scheme of things.
(The writer is CPRO to CM
Telangana and
former Additional
Director Dr MCR HRD IT)
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