Microsoft partners with MSDE and CBC to increase digital literacy of India’s civil servants

Microsoft has partnered with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) and the Capacity Building Commission (CBC) to equip Indian civil servants with skills for the future. Aiming to improve the functional computer literacy of roughly 2.5 million government of India civil personnel, the cooperation under the project Capacity Building by MSDE in Microsoft Digital Productivity Skills.

Through the project, they will be given the digital tools they need to serve the society’s most vulnerable and underprivileged members with efficient and effective citizen-centric services. This will make it possible for them to provide last-mile social welfare services. 

The MoU was signed and exchanged in the presence of Rajesh Aggarwal, Secretary MSDE; Adil Zainulbhai, Chairman, CBC; Praveen Pardeshi, Member Admin, CBC and Ashutosh Chadha, Group Head & Director, Government Affairs, Microsoft India.

Section officers, assistant section officers, clerks, upper division clerks, lower division clerks, undersecretaries, deputy secretaries, and similar officials at senior, junior, and supporting levels in the central government institutions will all receive training as part of the initiative. For the ministries of Defense, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Expenditure, Finance, Social Justice, Civil Aviation, Ports and Shipping, and Labour, CBC has taken on the capacity building plans. The absence of digital productivity application skills required for working on Microsoft Office programmes like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint presentations at a professional level was one of the key competency gaps observed among these occupational roles. The partnership’s training programmes will make it possible for the officials to improve their digital productivity skills so they can carry out their duties in various ministries successfully.

Rajesh Aggarwal, Secretary, MSDE stated, “Today’s partnership is in keeping with the Mission Karmayogi project, which is geared toward the professional development of our government personnel and was envisioned by our Hon’ble Prime Minister. By placing a focus on initiatives that promote digital literacy, we will be able to offer our citizens hassle-free services and increase transparency in daily operations. Our goal is to create policies that are advantageous to both citizens and businesses. Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are now crucial tools for our jobs because technology has become a part of our daily lives. Because of this, it is essential that our workforce receives training in these programmes, and I am confident that thanks to our alliance, Mission Karmayogi will be a success”.

The mission of Mission Karmayogi, according to CBC Chairman Adil Zainulbhai, is to increase the capacity of every single civil official. Being proficient in various digital technologies for daily work is one of the crucial competencies. Government employees will be able to receive digital training at a time of their choosing thanks to the partnership between MSDE and Microsoft. Their skills will be improved, which will make them more useful.

Ashutosh Chadha, Group Head and Director, Government Affairs, Microsoft India, said, “Every work will increasingly require digital skills, and we are dedicated to expanding the chances for skill development in the nation and honoured to collaborate with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and the Capacity Building Commission (CBC). Through this programme, we hope to strengthen the vision of Digital India and provide central government employees with essential digital skills. Along with increasing efficiency, this programme will make it simpler to conduct business with more digital tools.”

Microsoft will create an online, self-paced learning course on Microsoft Office 365’s digital productivity suite services for MSDE as part of the cooperation, enabling MSDE to teach employees in central government ministries and departments in digital skills. The courses will be divided into Beginners and Advanced courses, each lasting 12 hours, and learners will have access to Advanced course once they have completed Beginners course and received a certificate of completion. Microsoft would provide the course materials on the user-friendly Microsoft Community Training platform (MCT). 

Also read:NSN weekly newsbytes on skills, education and training- 09082022 https://nationalskillsnetwork.in/nsn-weekly-newsbytes-on-skills-education-and-training-09082022/

MSDE and CBC would grant officials from various central government organisations and departments free access to the course content that Microsoft had prepared. The success of the online self-paced training programme for government officers through MCT will depend on the parties’ ability to work together and cooperate with one another. Additionally, MSDE would keep tabs on the project’s development and training results and would encourage all Ministries, Departments, and Organizations to enforce the National Training Policy’s requirement that all Section Officers and Assistant Section Officers obtain certification in digital productivity skills from the project in order to advance their careers.