Government somersaults on foreign jaunts for babus

GANDHINAGAR: Narendra Modi-led Gujarat government seems to have realized that to improve its administration, there is a need to give exposure and perspective to its babus by sending them to the countries of the developed world.
Hence, for the first time, the general administration department (GAD) has cleared proposals of 87 key officials for 2013-14 and several more are under consideration.The state government has, for the first time, allowed non-IAS state cadre officials to go abroad for trainings.
An official said, “So far, the state’s policy was not to entertain proposals of foreign training for state cadre officials due to a number of vacant posts and work overload, but now the policy has been changed. “The government felt that sending well-performing officials for better exposure of public administration in developed countries can help us improve our own administration. We have decided to identify those potential officials who are contributing well and have potential to perform still better with new training and greater exposure.” Sources said that till now, a few senior IAS and IPS officials were allowed to go for training to foreign lands as per the requirement of the Central government’s department of personnel and training (DOPT).
“But now, we have decided to send state cadre officials who work in secretariat and at other key posts in the government. We have allowed even deputy secretary rank officials for such trainings for the first time,’’ an official said.
Sources further informed that till last year, less than ten officers were allowed to go abroad for training.