“Policy Paralysis” phrase finally slips into sarkari training sessions of officers

THE government has always blamed media, directly or indirectly, for using the phrase “policy paralysis” while describing no-movement of files for months, periodically. But the phrase has actually slipped into the sarkari discourse and even in government-sponsored training programmes for its officers.
Indian Administrative Service officers and those working under Central Staffing Scheme will now undertake…
an in-service training programme in December this year in New Delhi with one of the themes being “Policy Challenges before India: Beyond Policy Paralysis”. The in-service training programme to be held between December 10 and 14, 2012, is sponsored by DoPT and will be conducted by OP Jindal Global University.
The DoPT in an office memorandum dated July 31 pitched for the programme and asked various departments to nominate eligible officers. “Keeping in view the rich content of the proposed programme as well as the profile of the speakers it is requested that eligible officers may be nominated to this programme,” the OM said.
The other topics of the training programme include second generation reforms, FDI in new sectors, regulating the interface between bureaucracy and private sector, integrity and ethics etc. And speakers include among others Prof Mukul Asher of Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore, Tony Kwok Man-Wai of Hong Kong, Prof Pratap Bhanu Mehta of Centre for Policy Research, former bureaucrats NC Saxena and MN Buch.

Action and Appointments
a) PK Misra, a 1976 batch UP cadre IAS and secretary in department of personnel and training (DoPT), will hold additional charge of the post of secretary, department of administrative reforms and public grievances and department of pensions and pensioners’ welfare for a period of three month with effect from August 1, 2012. Misra had earlier held additional charge of the ministry of steel as well.