Mussoorie, with its green hills and varied flora and fauna, is a fascinating hill resort. Located in the foothills of the Himalayas, Mussoorie gets its name from the Mansur shrub.
NIC Training Unit National Informatics Centre Training Unit (NICTU) under the flag of NIC HQ, New Delhi was established in December 1988 at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Mussoorie to cater to the training needs of recruits of IAS and allied services during the training programmes conducted at the Academy. NICTU functions as an independent unit within the Academy.
Faculty NICTU has its own permanent faculty. The teaching methodology comprises lectures-cum-live demonstrations and discussions followed by practice sessions. The course contents have been carefully designed to meet the need of the officer trainees in order to make optimum use of computing facilities. The course material gets updated from time to time. NICTU lab is equipped with the modern training facilities such as latest P4 systems interconnected with LAN, Internet connectivity, audio-visual equipment etc.
Training Calendar Since NICTU functions solely for the Academy, all training and related activities of NICTU fit well within the training modules conducted by the Academy. An academic year consists the four major programmes conducted for various groups of officer trainees. The Academy also conducts, on an average, eight training programmes for senior officers of the IAS. NICTU develops and conducts computer training modules for these programmes:
• Foundation Course I : For All India Services and Central Services (Group A) for a batch of 280-300 participants from September to December. • Foundation Course I : For All India Services and Central Services (Group A) for a batch of 150-200 participants from March to June. • IAS Professional Course Phase I : For the Officer Trainees for the batch of 80-100 participants from December to May. • IAS Professional Course Phase II : For the Officer Trainees for the batch of 80-100 participants from June to August. • Induction Course : For the officers promoted/selected list to IAS from State Civil Services for 100-120 participants from January to December. • In-Service Programme : For the IAS officers of 6-9 years, 10-16 years and 17-20 years seniority for 100-120 participants from January to December.
Objectives • NICTU course modules for Foundational Course (I & II) focuses upon getting the officer trainees rid of the fear of the machine, developing skills in the use of computers and orienting them towards the use of computers. • For IAS Professional Course Phase I, the objectives are to make the trainees proficient in the use of computers, to develop some professional skills, to expose them to the concepts of System Analysis and Design and make them familiar with E-Governance and computing environment. • IAS Professional Course Phase II, ensures proficiency in using computers, through good understanding of systems and related developmental tasks and provides a thorough understanding of the district level computing environment and E-Governance. • For In-Service courses, the objectives are to make the trainees familiar with latest technologies in IT field. The number of lectures and hands-on sessions are different for In-Service and Induction courses.
Core curriculum All training and related activities of NICTU fit well within the training modules conducted by the academy. The curriculum is well designed by NICTU faculty for different groups of Officers Trainees. The varied topics for computer course for the trainees are related to Software, Hardware and Operating Systems, Internet and e-mail, System Security, Office Automation, Database Design, Network & Communication technology, Client Server technology, Project Management (MS Project), System Analysis and Design, E-governance, Geographical Information System, Graphics, Web designing etc.
Methodology The methodology of the NIC Training Unit is based upon the following strategy: • Lecture-cum-Demonstrations • Hands on Computer Sessions • Case Studies • Class and Take-Home Assignments • Presentations by the participants • Web based learning
Future Plans Subject experts from NIC support groups and guest faculties are also invited by NICTU whenever it is necessary. Besides designing and conducting independent computer training modules, NICTU has plans to introduce new courses.
In the words of Sh. Binod Kumar, Secretary, Govt. of India and Director, LBSNAA, Mussoorie, “NIC Training Unit has been playing an important role in imparting computer training to the civil servants including senior IAS officers for 16 years. The training conducted by NICTU in Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy of Administration over the years has played a vital role in creating awareness about the potential of Information Technology among the Officer Trainees.”