New Delhi: In a significant move to enhance professional development within its workforce, the central government has mandated that all its employees complete competency-linked courses annually. These courses, tailored to an employee’s specific role or level, will be assessed and their completion will be recorded in their Annual Performance Appraisal Reports (APARs).
Information was available with The Chenab Times that the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has implemented this new directive, which aims to foster a competency-based capacity building approach. This strategy emphasizes role-based learning, continuous skill enhancement, and ensures that training aligns with the precise requirements of each job.
Union Minister of State for Personnel, Jitendra Singh, conveyed this information in a written response to the Rajya Sabha. He elaborated that the mandate requires all central government employees and officers of all-India services to undertake prescribed competency-linked courses and comprehensive assessments. These are to be completed on the integrated government online training (iGOT) portal each year. The successful completion and performance in these assessments will subsequently be reflected in their APARs, a crucial document for career progression.
The framework underpinning this initiative is the framework of roles, activities and competencies (FRAC). This FRAC aims to systematically align every position within the government with clearly defined roles, associated activities, and the necessary competencies, encompassing behavioural, functional, and domain-specific skills. This structured approach ensures a clear understanding of expectations and the requisite skills for each government role.
In a separate but related query, Minister Jitendra Singh addressed the engagement of consultants within government ministries and departments. He stated that the General Financial Rules (GFR), 2017, which are administered by the Department of Expenditure under the Ministry of Finance, lay down the fundamental principles for engaging external professionals and consultancy firms. According to information provided by the Department of Expenditure, the responsibility for maintaining detailed records of consultant engagements lies with the respective ministries and departments themselves.
This information was provided in response to a question seeking year-wise data on the number of consultants engaged by central ministries and departments over the past five years. The minister clarified that while the GFR provides the overarching guidelines, the granular data collection and maintenance are decentralized, resting with the individual ministries and departments responsible for their procurement and utilization of external expertise.
The Chenab Times News Desk