SHILLONG, Aug 11: The state government has decided to curtail the foreign visits of officers and contractual employees.
Such visits would be limited to two per financial year in view of the fiscal issues Meghalaya continues to face, Cabinet Minister Paul Lyngdoh said on Friday.
The state government will sponsor only one of these two foreign trips while the other would have to be borne by the Centre or any external agency, he said.
An exception has been made in the case of an official who visits any foreign country for receiving an award on behalf of the government, he added.
“Our fiscal limitations and the need to rationalise led to the decision,” Lyngdoh said.
According to the decision, the second foreign tour of a government official would depend on the assessment of the progress report of the first visit.
The decision had to be taken as the frequency of foreign trips by some officers seemed irrational and did not match the results, Lyngdoh said.
On whether such restrictions would be imposed on state ministers, he said it was the prerogative of the Ministry of External Affairs.
In another decision, the Cabinet approved a proposal to sponsor mid-career courses for senior officers to improve their efficiency. The government would even spend up to Rs 15 lakh per officer for the courses.
The senior officers to be sponsored would be from All India Services, Meghalaya Civil Service, Meghalaya Police Service, Meghalaya Forest Service, and Meghalaya Finance Service based in the state.
Three officers with seven years of service left would be chosen to undergo the sponsored training, Lyngdoh said.
Under this initiative, the government would encourage and incentivise the officers to continue learning by pursuing courses at various universities that offer higher degrees and diplomas.
The government would constitute a committee to review and approve the applications of the officers for the purpose.
Lyngdoh said the officers would have to pursue such courses without taking any leave from work. “These courses would have to be undertaken during weekends or post-office hours,” he said.
The courses that the officers can opt for include an MBA for working professionals offered by IIM Shillong, a master’s in public policy by the OP Jindal Global University, certificate courses in data sciences and AI offered by the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIT) Bangalore, PhD programmes for working professionals offered by IIM Shillong, and part-time PhD offered by the OP Jindal Law School and IITs, and PhD in management by the IIMs.
Lyngdoh said the state government would fund the tuition fees up to Rs 15 lakh for the programme.
