Strengthening Collective Capacity Vital to Address Emerging Challenges, Says Minister

Collective capacity building is increasingly important to meet emerging challenges, Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said on Wednesday, adding that capacity building must evolve from an individual, skill-based approach into a collective and whole-of-society effort to respond effectively to the rapidly changing technological and global environment.

Addressing a roundtable on capacity building, Dr Singh said the pace of technological and societal evolution has increased tremendously, making continuous learning indispensable.

He said that what one learns today may already become outdated by tomorrow, and therefore individuals and institutions must develop the capacity to remain learners and continuously adapt.

He further said that institutions must learn to work in an integrated manner and coordinate across organisational boundaries to respond rapidly to new challenges and translate policies into effective implementation.

India must move towards an approach that combines institutional coordination with a whole-of-society perspective, the minister added.

The minister stressed that the government cannot be expected to do everything and that greater participation from other stakeholders is necessary.

Referring to India's experience of opening up sectors such as space and nuclear energy to private participation, he said that the country needs to learn to work across sectors and develop an ecosystem in which different stakeholders contribute towards a common national objective.

Dr Singh highlighted the importance of pragmatism in governance, saying that officials must learn to move beyond getting stuck in the rule book while fulfilling their responsibilities. He said that working effectively requires an appropriate degree of pragmatism and that this, in turn, requires a change in mindset.

The Minister also highlighted the growing role of continuous learning platforms in capacity building.

He informed that the iGOT platform has more than 40 lakh registered individuals, providing a continuous learning platform for government officials.

The minister also referred to the National Centre for Good Governance and the Indian Institute of Public Administration as part of a larger ecosystem of institutions working in the area of governance and capacity building.