India, Mauritius to strengthen cooperation in public service, training

Minister of Public Service and Administrative Reforms, Republic of Mauritius, Lutchmanah Raj Pentiah, called on Union Minister for Science & Technology Jitendra Singh today at Kartavya Bhavan, accompanied by a high level official delegation, with the agenda to discuss further strengthening of India-Mauritius cooperation in public service, training and capacity building, with greater emphasis on sustained institutional engagement and exchange of expertise between the two countries.

Strengthening Bilateral Cooperation

According to the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Jitendra Singh said the existing cooperation should be taken forward through wider training opportunities, stronger linkages between public service institutions and greater sharing of India’s experience in governance, administrative reforms and technology-enabled public service delivery.

Jitendra Singh said India and Mauritius share a special relationship rooted in deep historical, cultural and people-to-people ties, and public administration and capacity building provide a natural area for further cooperation. He said India has consistently supported Mauritius in developing the capabilities of its public servants and that the ongoing engagement now provides an opportunity to build a more structured and enduring institutional partnership.

The Minister referred to the understanding reached during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Mauritius last year to train 500 Mauritian civil servants over five years through the National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG), with the first batch already undergoing training at Mussoorie. He said this initiative can serve as an important foundation for deeper and sustained engagement between the public services of India and Mauritius, beyond individual training programmes, the Ministry stated.

Focus on Institutional Linkages

A major focus of the meeting was the development of stronger institutional linkages between ABVIPSI and leading Indian institutions engaged in public service training and capacity building, including the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) and Institute of Secretariat Training & Management (ISTM). The proposed areas include joint programme design, faculty and training capacity building, exchange of expertise, exposure programmes, sharing of training methodologies, development of case studies and joint research.

He said the recently operationalised iGOT Karmayogi Mauritius platform can provide a strong foundation for sustained digital learning and capacity building of Mauritian public servants. Indian and Mauritian institutions can work together to develop learning pathways, curate content and incorporate Mauritian governance experiences and case studies into learning resources suited to the country’s requirements, the Ministry noted.

The meeting was attended by senior officials from the Government of India and the Republic of Mauritius, representatives of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Public Service and Innovation (ABVIPSI), and High Commissioner of Mauritius to India, Sheila Bappoo. The discussions focused on expanding cooperation in public administration, capacity building, training, digital learning and public service innovation.

Proposals from Indian Institutions

The meeting also explored the scope for expanding cooperation from conventional civil service training to wider areas of professional capacity building. IIPA has proposed collaboration with ABVIPSI for short- and long-term programmes in public administration, governance, leadership and public policy, besides capacity building of ABVIPSI faculty and staff and training programmes for scientific and technical officials from Mauritius. IIPA has also proposed cooperation in joint research and consultancy, Monitoring and Evaluation of government schemes and projects, faculty and researcher capacity building, development of online training courses and modules, and faculty and staff exchanges.

LBSNAA has proposed opportunities for Mauritian civil servants to participate in suitable mid-career and in-service training programmes and for joint design of programmes aligned with the capacity-building requirements of Mauritius, the Ministry emphasised.

Mauritian Minister’s Proposals

Lutchmanah Raj Pentiah welcomed India’s continued support to Mauritius and sought further expansion of institutional cooperation. He proposed that NCGG teams visit Mauritius to train trainers and Mauritian public servants and to support more effective utilisation of the Karmayogi Bharat platform.

He said 85 Mauritian officers have already undergone training through four missions and expressed readiness on the Mauritian side to facilitate further training programmes in Mauritius. The Mauritian Minister also sought India’s continued support in developing ABVIPSI as a centre of excellence for public service learning and innovation for the Indian Ocean and Eastern African region. He invited Indian institutions to participate in an international conference on good governance and management proposed by Mauritius and sought deeper academic and institutional linkages with Indian institutions.

Future Cooperation and Emerging Areas

The two sides also discussed opportunities for cooperation in emerging areas relevant to both countries, including the Blue Economy, ocean technologies, fisheries, desalination and sustainable development. Specialised capacity-building programmes, practitioner exchanges and joint learning initiatives in these areas can create new avenues for India-Mauritius cooperation, according to the Ministry.

The discussions reaffirmed the shared commitment to take India-Mauritius cooperation in public administration and capacity building to a new level through stronger institutional partnerships and sustained training engagement. The partnership will build upon the 500-officer training programme, ABVIPSI, iGOT Karmayogi Mauritius and the emerging linkages between Mauritian and Indian training institutions, with the focus on building long-term public service capabilities and creating a framework for continuous exchange of knowledge, experience and best practices. (ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianetnews Editorial staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)