Trainee IAS officers attend virtual classes, doing cleaning themselves at academy

Amid coronavirus lockdown, trainee IAS officers attend virtual classes and do the dishes and other chores all by themselves while maintaining social distancing norms during their stay at a prestigious training academy at Mussoorie, according to an official statement issued on Tuesday.

Union Minister Jitendra Singh was briefed about this and other activities being done at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) for the training of bureaucrats on COVID-19 related issues during a video conference with the director and faculty of the premier institution.

He was briefed on how SOPs have been formed for different aspects of the functioning of the academy including training of IAS officer Trainees of Phase-I, the statement issued by the Personnel Ministry said.

"The classes are being conducted online which are accessed by them in their respective rooms. Similarly, food is being delivered to the hostels and the utensils and room cleaning is done by the officer trainees themselves," it said.

COVID-19 related inputs have been given through various mechanisms including showing films, online discussion, assignments and structured inputs, the statement said.

All the sections in the academy have made their own SOPs relating to social distancing and hygiene etc., it said.

"All staff of the academy including outsourced workers have been trained by faculty of the academy as per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare guidelines. All protocols of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare are being followed in line with the instructions of district administration as well," the statement said.

Director, LBSNAA, Sanjeev Chopra briefed Singh, the minister of state for personnel, about the initiatives taken in the wake of pandemic like the academy's initiatives in documenting best practices for mitigating COVID-19, completion of phase-I training through online mode/assessment/reviews, IT infrastructure and upgradation for COVID 19 medical infrastructure and civil services association to reach to support national disasters (CARUNA) among others.

The academy has reinvented its training through innovative use of technology and learning management system and all inputs and assignments by officer trainees are being routed through its own 'gyan portal', the statement said. It has also come up with an internet radio facility to aid these efforts, the statement said.

The officer trainees have also been encouraged to take up various activities and competitions through different clubs and societies.

The society for social services has been involved in getting face masks made by the self-help groups and distribution to officer trainees and staff and also distribution of ration to indigent families in and around the academy in collaboration with district administration, the Personnel Ministry said.

"The Centre for Disaster Management is collecting best practices in COVID-19 management from across the country and different faculty members of the academy are involved in the initiative of the civil services association namely CARUNA," it said.

Singh appreciated the steps taken by the academy and expressed the hope that many more such novel efforts would be taken to mitigate the crisis, the statement added.