At a time when desi babus are flying to western nations to hone their skills, Sri Lanka has reposed faith in the Indian system of administration.

During the forthcoming visit of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in the second week of October, Colombo would sign an MoU with the Mussoorie-based Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration. The country wants its bureaucrats to get trained in  India.

 “We want to learn lessons from the rich Indian administrative system,” said Lalith Weeratunga, Secretary to the Sri Lankan President.

Training facilities
As part of the MoU, Sri Lanka would also upgrade its administrative academy at Colombo by introducing modern training facilities and latest courses on the pattern of the LBS Academy.

Earlier in the day, Mr Weeratunga travelled to LBS Academy and held talks with its top officials there. He also visited various classrooms where he came across Indian bureaucrats being trained.

The move stems from Mr Rajapaksa’s last year’s visit to Uttarakhand, where he visited the IAS academy. He also evinced keen interest in the Indian administrative system.

When the president returned  from Mussoorie, he immediately ordered that Sri Lankan bureaucrats must be trained in the Indian academy.

“The president was very happy after seeing all the facilities in Mussoorie,” added Weeratunga.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka has also roped in Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra (RLEK), a Dehra Dun-based NGO, for imparting human rights education to its civil servants and politicians. For the past one year, scores of Sri Lankan bureaucrats and politicians have been sent to RLEK in this regard. Rajapaksa himself had been a visiting professor at the RLEK in the past.

“We are looking forward for more batches of civil servants from Sri Lanka at our centre,” said Avdhash Kaushal, Chairperson of RLEK. A group of 15 civil servants from the island nation would soon visit RLEK for a human rights training course.