Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie

Tucked away in the hills of Mussoorie is an old colonial building with sprawling lawns. Don’t be surprised if you find men and women there talking on subjects as varied as the Indian caste structure and the global economic crisis. For these very men and women will deal with serious issues — domestic and international — in the coming years.

This is the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Mussoorie, where India’s crème-de-la-crème is trained. All those who pass the civil service exam have to go to the academy for training. And you couldn’t find a more scenic spot — for idyllic Mussoorie, in the foothills of the Himalayas, is just ideal for brainstorming sessions.

All those who clear the UPSC examination for the civil services have to attend a four-month foundation course at LBSNAA. After this, officers of the Indian Administrative Service continue their professional training at the academy, while officers of other services proceed to other training institutions. Called probationers, these would-be civil servants are given an extensive training in different fields.

LBSNAA was established in 1959 and is currently headed by Rudra Gangadhar, an IAS officer of the 1975 batch, Kerala cadre. The probationers are trained for about a year, and the training entails rigorous work, learning, exposure and preparation for the tough road that lies ahead. The officers look back on their days at the academy as an experience of a lifetime. “The probationers are exposed to many layers of public life in such a small time. This prepares them for the tortuous path that lies ahead,” says IAS officer Praveen Thind.

The faculty consists of the most qualified professionals from various walks of life. Top bureaucrats, diplomats, cops and experts from different fields such as law, economics, policy, defence, science, technology, literature and cinema address the probationers. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, industrialists, media persons, social workers and politicians are among those who give regular lectures.

The teaching is module based. Weekly modules are followed, and the probationers deal with general and specific topics. For instance, you would find them debating the Naxalist movement, terrorism, role of religion in politics, e-governance, risk management, risk monitoring, social auditing, the right to information, health, education and so on. Subjects such as history, economics, public administration and law are on the curriculum. The probationers work on projects, and are graded on both ideas and feasibility.

The thrust, old students stress, is more on fieldwork than on theory. Regular village visits are part of the training. Probationers go to villages to know about the rural environment. They carry out research on different aspects of village life and submit a report or an analysis of a particular situation.

The probationers also learn a new language. Their progress in learning is put to test regularly in the form of verbal and written tests and presentations. Probationers not familiar with English or Hindi are given training in the two languages.

But it’s not all work. Food is one area probationers stress on, and there is a committee that manages the mess — taking care of the menu, cost, freshness of ingredients and so on. The academy wants its future officers to be fit, so there are games such as hockey, badminton and football. They are also taught horse riding.

The probationers are exposed to adverse conditions. Various treks are organised to test their physical fitness. They are sent on camps where they are left to manage on their own — from setting up tents to preparing food. The probationers are taken on a tour of the country to familiarise them with rural and urban India. They travel to almost 17-18 states, and come back with a first-account of the diversity that is India.

“The probationers are never put in their comfort zones; they are always assigned to groups with different people not from the same part of the country as theirs. Hence, a cultural exchange takes place and they learn to be tolerant of different traditions and cultures,” says Thind.

The probationers have to sit for objective examinations every week and subjective ones every month. At the end of their training they are required to clear a final examination on the basis of which they are graded.

The fraternity believes that the academy is like a family. People who face personal or emotional crises are counselled to help them cope with problems. The faculty also welcomes feedback from probationers.“The training polishes the skills of the probationers and helps them emerge as better individuals,” says Thind. One year in Mussoorie, and India’s brightest and best are ready to take on the world.

Vital Statistics:-

WHAT IS IT? It is an institute that trains civil servants

WHO’S THE BOSS? Rudra Gangadhar is the director

where is it? Happy Valley, Mussoorie, Uttarakhand Website: http://www.lbsnaa. ernet.in/lbsnaa/index.jsp

Sources: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)