Mumbai, July 21 (IANS) The Maharashtra government on Monday signed an MoU with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to provide a Public Policy Certificate Course to the youth participating in the Chief Minister’s Fellowship Programme.

The Chief Minister asserted that this course with IIT will enhance the capabilities of the youth participating in the Fellowship Programme, and they will be able to work more effectively.

On this occasion, Additional Chief Secretary of Planning Department Rajagopal Devara and Director of ‘IIT’ Bombay Prof Shirish Kedare signed this MoU.

CM Fadnavis said that the Chief Minister’s Fellowship program has been continuously deepening and enriching since 2015. This program is being taken forward with prestigious institutions like IIT. This certificate course will be used to provide value addition to the youth in the fellowship through various ways, to gain knowledge along with work. This will add value to their careers.

“The main objective of the Chief Minister’s Fellowship Program is to provide an opportunity to academically competent and socially minded youth to work with the government. When young people working in different fields come to the government, the government gets a new idea, a new perspective, and this makes the functioning of the administration more effective,” said the Chief Minister.

He expressed his belief that this program will give the government a new perspective, new ideas will bring about changes in the system, and the youth will also get an opportunity to bring about positive changes in society.

Additional Chief Secretary Rajgopal Devara said that the Chief Minister’s Fellowship Program has been implemented since 2015. Earlier, the youth under the Chief Minister’s Fellowship Program were appointed at the Mantralaya level.

However, from this year, the fellowship program is being implemented at the district level, and they will get the opportunity to work with the District Collector and the Chief Executive Officer of the Zilla Parishad at the field level.

Also, the government will benefit from their knowledge while making policy decisions. The purpose of the certificate course is to provide knowledge of the tools and science necessary to understand and solve public development issues.

IIT Bombay Director Prof Shirish Kedare said that the opportunity to participate in the fellowship program with the state government is significant. He informed that the curriculum will include a total of 20 days of live classroom training, 90 hours of online learning per year and interaction with senior professors, retired civil servants and experts from various fields at IIT Bombay.

–IANS

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