Colombo, Oct 4 As many as 40 senior Sri Lankan civil servants underwent a special capacity-building programme at the National Centre for Good Governance of India (NCGG) from September 22 to October 3 on the theme 'Clean Cities, Better Future: Transforming Urban Sri Lanka with Regional Practices', the High Commission of India in Sri Lanka revealed on Saturday.
The programme was aligned with Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's 'Clean Sri Lanka" initiative announced in January 2025 and the 'Swachhata Hi Seva 2025' campaign under the Swachch Bharat Mission in India.
"The theme of the programme was chosen to support sustainable urban management, environmental responsibility, and citizen participation, reflecting the goals of both national initiatives. Participants engaged in expert-led sessions covering key areas such as urban planning, municipal governance, public-private partnerships in urban sector, solid waste management with focus on plastic waste recycling, innovation and digital transformation at local level, urban transport, etc," read a statement issued by the Indian HC in Colombo.
It mentioned that field visits provided practical exposure to noteworthy initiatives relevant to the programme's theme at leading institutions such as National Institute of Urban Affairs, Mussoorie–Dehradun Development Authority, Integrated Tribal Development Agency, Tehkhand Waste-to-Energy Project and Delhi Metro Rail Project.
The participants experienced first-hand innovative practices in municipal governance, urban infrastructure, waste-to-energy solutions, and citizen-focused public services.
This was the fifth capacity-building programme under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in December 2024 between NCGG and the Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration for training of 1500 Sri Lankan civil service officers over a period of five years.
"With this programme, the total number of officers trained under the MoU reached 201. Based on highly positive feedback of the participants and on request of the Government of Sri Lanka, the sixth programme under the MoU will also be under the same theme, covering another 40 Sri Lankan civil servants," the Indian High Commission stated.
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