The University Grants Commission (UGC) launched its Annual Capacity Building Plan today, Tuesday, January 2, which was aimed at the growth and skill enhancement of its employees. This is its first one-of-a-kind scheme, officially launched by Professor Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar, Chairman, UGC in the presence of Dr R Balasubramanium, Member HR, Capacity Building Commission (CBC).
Here are a set of questions that further shed light on the newly launched policy by the UGC.
1) What is the CBC?
The Capacity Building Commission (CBC) was established by the Government of India through the Gazette of India on April 1, 2021.
2) What is the outcome of the collaboration between UGC and the CBC?
This is one of the first ventures by any autonomous organisation when it comes to planning for the capacity building of their employees in collaboration with CBC.
The Annual Capacity Building Plan (ACBP) is a comprehensive plan that outlines the important measures for enhancing individual officials' competencies and the overall capacity of UGC.
This plan is derived from a robust Capacity Need Assessment exercise that was done with UGC officials and staff over six months starting from March 2023.
3) What has UGC achieved so far in the capacity building of its staff and officers?
More than 600 UGC employees were onboarded on iGot Karmayogi platform by September 15, 2023. In the first quarter (October to December, 2023), 630 UGC employees have completed more than 4,500 courses with each employee completing an average of seven courses.
4) What are the other steps UGC has taken to upskill its employees?
In 2023, UGC had organised various training programmes on Reservation in Services, Introduction to Emerging Technologies using Artificial Intelligence, Overview of Data-Driven Decision Making (DDDM) using Higher Education data and relevant use cases, Public Financial Management System (PFMS) Awareness of General Financial Rules, Contract Management and Purchase of Services and so on.
5) What is its purpose?
The purpose that the plan would serve is to build, develop and enhance the underlying hidden abilities, and talents, and work on increasing their efficiency and qualifications. This is aimed at increasing their capacity to serve the higher educational system in India.
6) Does the plan have any focus area on how the employees will be trained?
The plan would primarily focus on:
A) Behavioral competencies - Enabling the UGC staff to take up bigger roles than what they normally perform.
b) Functional competencies - Help the UGC staff perform better in administration, procurement, and financial management.
c) Domain competencies - Would help the employees perform better in specialised fields such as policy making or project management.
d) Technology competencies - Training in this would help them to aim at shorter turnaround time and improve efficiency, better their digital record keeping and utilise technology platforms to reach out to the stakeholders.
