KSG Profs to Train India's Policy Makers

Professors at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government (KSG) will lead a training program in India intended to bolster the management skills of the country’s senior policy makers this January.

Around 300 of India’s senior civil servants are expected to participate, with the first four-week course, “Governance Challenges for India,” kicking off at the year’s start.

The course, part of the KSG’s Executive Education program, will be conducted with the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA), India’s leading management institute. Faculty from both the KSG and IIMA will teach the integrated curriculum involving both lectures and special exercises.

The course is part of an initiative collaborating with the Indian government, which has revamped the training program for their civil service officers, according to Christine Letts, Hauser lecturer in the practice of philanthropy and nonprofit leadership. The program has been 18 months in the developing.

“We are limited in when we can deliver such a program because of faculty teaching schedules,” said Letts. “This first program is in January because that is when most of our faculty who might teach in the program were available.”

Mary Jo Bane, KSG academic dean, and Akash Deep, KSG associate professor of public policy, will co-chair the January course.

“This is one of the most significant executive programs that we have undertaken, both in terms of magnitude and span of the curriculum,” Deep said in a KSG press release. “We hope that the coming together of senior Indian Administration Service officers along with our faculty will generate innovative ideas to address governance challenges facing India now and in the future.”

Letts agreed, saying that while the Indian government has always supported extensive training in the early years of office, this is the first time that they have decided to offer leadership-level education at a senior rank.

The Executive Education program at KSG also has similar programs for leaders of China, Taiwan, and Pakistan.

—Staff writer Aditi Banga can be reached at abanga@fas.harvard.edu.