The Tamil Nadu government will implement a Chief Minister’s Fellowship Programme for 2022-24 to utilise the talent of young professionals in the execution of schemes in 12 sectors.
An order to this effect was passed on March 4 and made available to the media on Thursday.
“The government strongly believes in the potential of the talented youth of our state to improve the processes of governance and service delivery,” the government order said. “This is envisaged to be one of the prestigious programmes in the public policy and service domain in the country.”
In all 30 fellows will be selected and they will be placed under the Chief Minister’s Office and departments concerned.
Bharathidasan Institute of Management in Trichy district will be the academic partner for the fellowship and the nodal agency to select the fellows. The programme is being established at a cost of ₹5.66 crore. The selected fellows will be given a monthly remuneration of ₹50,000 and an additional allowance of ₹10,000 to meet assignment work such as travel and mobile usage. On successfully completing the two-year-fellowship, the fellows will receive a certificate in public policy and management.
The Government has identified 12 areas in which the fellows can work: Augmentation of water resources, infrastructure & industrial development, agricultural production, productivity and creation of marketing linkages, skill development and entrepreneurship development, housing for all, institutional credit, improving educational standards, heritage and culture, improving health indicators, ecological balance and data governance.
Out of the 30 fellows, 24 will work in pairs in each of the 12 areas. Another six fellows will be in the implementation and monitoring cell. The fellows will also have to undertake field visits to districts to assess ground situation, elicit feedback and assist in appropriate follow-up action.
To be eligible, a candidate must hold a first class bachelor degree in professional courses such as engineering, medicine, law, agriculture, veterinary science, or first class in master’s degree in arts/science from any of the recognised universities. Candidates with a Ph.D. degree will be preferred. Work experience will be an added advantage and emphasis will be given to research experience.
The age limit is between 22 and 33 years. For candidates belonging to SC/ST and BC/MBC categories, the maximum age limit will be 35 and 33 years, respectively. The reservation policy of the Tamil Nadu government followed in admissions to academic institutions will apply here too.
The newly inducted fellows will have a 30-day orientation programme jointly organised by Bharathidasan Institute of Management in Trichy and the Special Programme Implementation Department at the Anna Administrative Staff College, Chennai.
The objectives of the fellowship include implementing a framework of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) to improve the service delivery of the government across different departments and to develop the key performance indicators (KPIs) for service delivery and to compare against global best practices.
