Guwahati, Nov 14: The Assam government on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIMB) for a programme to bring about transformative changes in key sectors such as health, education, women and child development.
The programme, christened Assam Chief Minister’s Young Professional Programme 2023-25, aims to provide short-term catalytic support to districts to improve programme delivery in the identified sectors.
Principal secretary to the chief minister, Samir Kumar Sinha signed the MoU on behalf of the Assam government while IIM Bangalore director Rishikesha T Krishnan signed the understanding on behalf of IIM-B to develop a cadre of committed and competent leaders and facilitators to support government administration.
Speaking on the occasion, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma termed the day as very significant in the annals of the administrative history of the state.
“The MoU will hold immense potential for holistic growth of the state as for the first time such an innovative support system has been conceived of to support the district administration to improve programme delivery in the identified sectors,” Sarma said.
The chief minister thanked IIM-B for partnering with the Assam government, which according to him, would go a long way in improving service delivery to the people of the state.
He further said that rapid economic growth in Assam has seen the state’s Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) double over the past five years, which has led to a realisation that Assam could achieve the desired growth and could even contribute to the growth of the country.
“Our government is working to build a strong eco-system in terms of governance and administration. In order to leverage steady growth of the state, we are eyeing at building a resilient administration beginning right at the district level,” the chief minister said.
Notably, the Chief Minister’s Young Professional Programme has envisioned inviting young professionals to support the transformative process in Assam to help create measurable changes at the district level on the indices of Sustainable Development Goals.
A total of 75 professionals will form the Chief Minister’s Young Professional Programme (CMYPP) cohort.
Two professionals will be assigned to each of the 35 districts in the state. Five professionals will be at the state headquarters, one each with the department of health, education and women and child development, one for the National Health Mission (NHM) and one for the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan.
