Experience Odisha’s Flora & Fauna: CS Tells Central Service Officers

Bhubaneswar : Odisha Chief Secretary Suresh Mahapatra on Monday said central civil service officers can gather a lot of information about Odisha’s economic growth, disaster management and rich bio-diversity and experience its flora and fauna during their training programme in the state.

Mahapatra was speaking after inaugurating the Special Foundation Course Training for central civil service officers from Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS) and Indian Postal and Telegraph Account & Finance Service cadre.

The training programme has been organised by Gopabandhu Academy of Administration in collaboration with Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA).

The special foundation course is being conducted for 29 officers for a period of 15 weeks.. Both the academies have previously conducted administrative training for officers from Central Secretariat Service and Chhattisgarh Civil Service.

In his address, Mahapatra said Odisha is one of the faster growing economies in the country and has set new benchmarks in disaster management, farmers empowerment and IT applications.  Odisha’s contribution as a sports capital and it’s ability to organise international and national sports events was also highlighted by Mahapatra.

On Odisha’s rich bio-diversity which comprises 40 per cent of its geographical area, he advised the trainee officers to experience the flora and fauna of the state.

The Chief Secretary asked GAA to make the training programme “memorable with field visits and practical exposure to ground level management”. The training programme should not be confined to monotonous class room learning type, he said.

Highlighting GAA’s collaboration with world class experts and institutions, Director General of GAA, Ranjana Chopra advised the trainee officers to undertake the training with strong mindset leaving behind the preconceived subjective ideas about people, administration and management.

The inaugural function was graced by other dignitaries such as Vice Chancellor of Utkal University Dr Sabita Acharaya, Course Coordinator Manish Agrawal, Prof RP Tripathy, Dean National University of Law.