Indian government to send secretary ranked officers for Harvard crash courses

INDIAN government will fund even secretary-level officers for short-term courses in Harvard University this year. The secretary ranked officers are however eligible to apply only in two out of 30 short-term tailor-made foreign courses for which the government will fund under Domestic Funding of Foreign Training Scheme, 2012-13.

One of those two courses titled “Leaders in Development: Managing Political and Economic Change” will begin on June 4 and end on June 15, 2012. The other course where secretary ranked officers are also eligible to apply is on

public private partnership, and will be conducted in Harvard campus in July 8 to 20, 2012. Additional secretary ranked officers can also apply for the same, but joint secretaries are not eligible, according to a government circular.

To give an idea of how senior a secretary-ranked officer is, here are two points. First, under the Indian administrative system, an officer needs about 34 years of experiences to be eligible for a secretary’s post. That means, one becomes a secretary when one is about to retire. Second, most of the IAS officers of a batch can’t reach that level because of various considerations including performance, age and poor vigilance track record.

This year, the universities where Indian government officers will be sent, include University of Harvard, University of Duke, USA, Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand, Asian Institute of Management, Manila, Syracuse University, USA, ISS, Hague, Netherlands and London School of Economics among others.

Another programme in Harvard titled “Senior Managers in Government” which will be held between July 22 and August 10, 2012, either joint secretary or additional secretary level officers will be sent. In 26 other courses, officers at the level of directors and below will be funded.

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