Updated - Thursday 29 November 2012
Participants of 2nd international training programme for high level officials. Photo: Dr. Kurian Baby
IRC Director Nico Terra officially inaugurated the second international training programme for high level officials of the Government of India on 19 November 2012. The two-week course on ‘’Providing sustainable services at scale and working towards a more vibrant sector” is being held at the IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre until 30 November.
Mr. R.K. Singh, the Indian Embassy’s Deputy Chief of Mission, also attended the inaugural session.
As part of a collaborative agreement, UNICEF, IRC and the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MDWS), Government of India (GoI) have partnered for three training programmes involving 60 high level WASH sector government officials, with a potential to reach 121 million people in India. The first training programme took place from 25 June - 6 July 2012.
In his address, Mr. Terra lauded India’s impressive achievement in drinking water coverage. There are good polices in place and the country has emerged as a leading investor in WASH sector infrastructure. However, sustainability of investments in providing the required service levels is a serious challenge. Substantial progress is also needed in the sanitation sector to improve coverage, use of facilities and health outcomes. Accordingly, the focus of the training is on the service delivery approach (SDA), which is at the heart of IRC’s development goal and vision.
Mr. Terra also mentioned the long standing development cooperation relationship between India and The Netherlands and IRC’s work in the WASH sector in India. IRC will intensify its engagement with India through the ongoing WASHCost action research programme and a planned Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to be signed between IRC and the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Mussoorie, Uttarakhand, India. LBSNAA is the national government training centre for Indian civil servants.
The focus of the training is on sustainable service delivery and life-cycle costs linked to post construction support, water security and communication for demand generation and behaviour change in the WASH sector. Through an exposure visit, participants will also get acquainted with the Dutch WASH sector. The key takeaway from the training programme is an action learning plan, which individual participants will implement when they are back home.
For more information contact: Dr. Kurian Baby, Senior Programme Officer, South Asia & Latin America Team, IRC, kurian@irc.nl
Tags: capacity development, india, service delivery approach
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