A brief about the School of Good Governance and Policy Analysis (SGPA) and its objectives were sent to Dr. Dholakia in advance. In initial discussion some salient features about the SGPA were also presented by the DG of the School. At the outset Dr. Dholakia expressed his appreciation for the decision of the Govt. of Madhya Pradesh for this new initiative which could make significant contributions to achieve the desired objectives with the ultimate goal of improving the quality of life of our people and also to act as a major Resource Centre for capacity building in the State of Madhya Pradesh, the Country and the developing World in the area of Good Governance and other allied areas. Dr. Dholakia expressed his pleasure for the initial efforts being made by the SGPA in associating experts and seeking advice and support of IIM-A and some other major Institutions in the country and the world over,

One of the areas on which some focused discussion could take place was the Water Resource Development and Management, in which Gujarat has succeeded to a very great extent due to special efforts made in the State during the last nearly one decade. Dr. Dholakia also appreciated the proposal of the SGPA to encourage the students of IIM-A in taking projects relating to development of the state of Madhya Pradesh for which SGPA could provide a facilitating platform for identification of projects and in making relevant field data available to the students. Dr. Dholakia suggested that this could be feasible but for this SGPA could contact the academics in IIM-A for further action. He also suggested names of a few experts from IIM-A and other Institutions who had some exposure and experience of projects related to Madhya Pradesh. In his view a lot of active research is going on with focus on Corporate Governance and research on Governance in Public Sector is of a more recent interest.

On a request made by the DG of the School Dr. Bkul H. Dholakia currently Director, IIM-A agreed to be a member of the Board of Governors of the School. He also accepted an invitation for a visit to the School to address a gathering of functionaries and stake holders in various sectors of Good Governance and Policy Analysis in the State of Madhya Pradesh.

The IIM-Ahmedabad has launched a one year Post Graduate Programme in Public Management and Policy (PGP-PMP) deatails of which are available on the following website

http://iimahd.ernet.in/pmp/pmp_the_programme.html

PGP-PMP programme has many components relevant to the objectives of SGPA. These include modules on

• Changing Paradigms in Economic Development
• Democracy and Development,
• IT Strategies for Governance,)
• Public Policy Formulation and Implementation,
• Skill Building and Performance Evaluation in Government,
• Strategic Management in Government and Vision of Governance,
• 360 Degrees Feedback in Government and Public Services