New Delhi, April 20
As Afghanistan rebuilds
its institutions, including in the fields of governance and education,
after decades of war, Afghan officials say they have a lot to thank
India for.
Completing a workshop in capacity building and
training here, a batch of senior Afghan civil servants says they have
learnt a lot which they can implement back home.
"We are part of
the same region, and India has the (developmental) experiences. We are
taking back home with us what we have learnt from some of India's
challenges, the models of governance. We are learning how to deliver
effective services to people," Jawid Waqif Enayat told IANS.
Enayat
is an official who is member of the team taking part in the capacity
building workshop run by O.P. Jindal Global University at Sonepat,
Haryana.
Enayat, who is deputy director, Capacity Building for
Results Programme, Independent Administrative Reform and Civil Service
Commission (IARCSC), said he found the two-week training programme "very
useful. We get practical knowledge of the subject, we share our
experiences. It is an interactive way of learning".
Mohammad Osman Frotan, another senior Afghan official, said the topics for the workshop were chosen based on Kabul's needs.
"The
topics range from governance, policy making, strategy making, planning,
presentation on financial issues, anti-corruption, and relevant topics
which can help civil servants in everyday work," Frotan told IANS.
What about reports of corruption in Afghanistan?
"Corruption
is not a very large issue in Afghanistan. It is an issue in most
countries that are working to be developed; and we are taking measures
to reduce it as people want a clean society and are optimistic," Frotan,
general director, policy and planning, ministry of counter-narcotics,
said on the sidelines of an event here.
Asked how serious the
problem of narcotics was in Afghanistan, Frotan said his country has
counter-narcotics laws and policies in place to solve the problem.
Enayat,
who did his collegiate education in Bangalore and says he is in touch
with many classmates, said a "new page has been opened in Afghanistan, a
new era has emerged. Afghanistan has achieved many improvements in
different aspects of life, including in governance, rule of law,
justice, education, economic growth and many more."
"But Afghanistan has still a long way to go to be comparable with countries, especially in the developed world."
He
said India has helped a lot in capacity building and education.
"Hundreds of educational scholarships given by India and the
contribution of the Indian government to build a suitable Afghan civil
service is undeniable."
Enayat said the three decades-long war in
Afghanistan "destroyed everything". "We are trying to build everything
from scratch. Countries like India can help."
According to C. Raj
Kumar, founding vice chancellor of O.P. Jindal Global University, the
most important aspect of the training and capacity building programme
run by the varsity for Afghan civil servants "is to recognise that
nation building is a complex set of initiatives that need to be
promoted".
"And with our specialised interest in issues like
public policy, governance, law and public affairs, and international
relations and business management, we believe we can contribute to the
growth and development of that country," Kumar told IANS.
"Our
purpose is to impart the kind of education and learning experiences that
the civil servants can take back to their country and implement it,"
Kumar said.
The Jindal University, which hosted Afghanistan CEO
Abdullah Abdullah recently, also provides over 50 scholarships to Afghan
students in humanities subjects.
"Our objective is to deeply
engage with Afghanistan in a number of ways," he said, adding the
feedback from the Afghan officials has been "absolutely stellar".
A
batch of 19 senior civil servants from Afghanistan is undergoing an
executive training programme at Jindal Global University, which won the
award from Kabul after a competitive international bidding process where
it outbid eight other institutions from around the world.
The
training is supported by the World Bank and is expected to impart
critical skills to raise the knowledge levels and efficiency of Afghan
bureaucrats.
(Ranjana Narayan can be contacted at [email protected]
