Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration, Punjab (MGSIPA), Chandigarh, today organised a training programme for IAS, PCS, IFS & PSS officers. Over 60 officers from all over the State attended this programme. Mr Ishwar Singh, IPS, Director, State Narcotics Control Bureau, Ludhiana in his talk on “War against Drugs in Punjab”, spoke in detail about various kinds of drugs in existence such as – poppy plant derivatives, cannabis derivatives, etc. Mr Ishwar Singh offered the prescription that the issue of drug addiction should be treated like a medical and social problem and the administrators must undertake required action with that perspective. The police needs the support of civil officers and society at large, in its crackdown against drugs.
He mentioned that India’s geographical location i.e. being sandwiched between the Golden Triangle (Myanmar, Laos and Thailand) and the Golden Crescent (Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan) makes it highly vulnerable to drug trafficking. He shared that Punjab’s strategy to counter the problem is multi- prolonged and included supply reduction – strict enforcement; demand reduction – de- addiction, rehabilitation; toll free helplines; institutional arrangements and educational and awareness programmes. Mr Singh advised field officers to deal with problem in multidimensional ways. He also discussed the legal provisions connected with the issue.
Later, Dr Rainuka Dagar, Director (Research), Gender Studies Unit at Institute of Development and Communication, Chandigarh, while speaking on “Female De-selection: issues and challenges”, mentioned that human rights proponents promote the concept of gender equality in terms of all the rights like jobs, healthcare, and education etc. whereas gender justice respects the different biological and cultural identities of males and females. Dr Dagar said that Punjab and Haryana are the worst performers as far as the skewed sex ratio is concerned. The form of gender discrimination varies in different societies and one has to see the historical perspective to understand the origin of discrimination. While sharing a case study from Punjab, she noted that the low number of girls is a matter of concern, because Punjab is an affluent state and progressive in all aspects but that of the female.
A panel discussion on “Civil Services and Media Interface” was conducted in which Mrs Ruchika Khanna, Special Correspondent, The Tribune;Herkawaljit Singh, Bureau Chief, Daily Ajit; and Mr Pawan Sharma, Chief of Bureau, Hindustan Times, participated. The panel discussed on issues such as relationship between civil services and the media; how to project Government activities in the media, right to information and ethics in mediaA session on New Public Management (NPM): theories and practices was conducted by Prof B S Ghuman, He dwelt upon major theories of new public management, the origin and evolution of NPM.
Prof Ghuman threw light on ReGo (Reinventing Government) which was based on the best practices of public sector/governments and compiled into a theory by David Osborne. Later, he talked of how the synthesis of the best practices of both private and government sectors, have been put to use in bringing out some bold administrative reforms by the developed countries like UK, New Zealand and later, even by Singapore and India. He cited downsizing and reorganisation as examples.Mr Harsimran Singh Sethi, Additional Advocate General, Punjab discussed landmark judgements on service matters. Mr Sethi spoke on various service laws that are relevant to the officers in the matters related to direct recruitment, promotion, reservation and preparation of seniority list and specifically mentioned the judgements on the matter of reservation in seniority while promoting officials.