Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Indore to strengthen capacity building, training and research for urban local bodies (ULBs) across the state.The agreement was signed between the Urban Training and Research Institute (UTRI), Lucknow, and IIM Indore in the presence of Urban Development secretary and UTRI director Anuj Kumar Jha and IIM Indore director Prof Himanshu Rai.“This partnership will help create a world-class training ecosystem and make urban governance more citizen-centric and result-oriented,” Jha said.Prof Rai said behavioural training would be at the core of the initiative, with a focus on improving cleanliness, strengthening public participation and enhancing governance outcomes across urban local bodies.Under the partnership, behavioural training programmes will be conducted for municipal commissioners, elected representatives, councillors and senior officials, followed by Training of Trainers (ToT) programmes to create a sustainable training ecosystem for ULBs.The institutions will also develop e-learning modules and webinar-based courses aligned with the Centre’s Mission Karmayogi initiative.The collaboration will focus on key urban governance areas, including Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) 2.0, solid waste management, smart city initiatives, traffic management and information, education and communication (IEC) strategies.IIM Indore will also conduct behavioural assessments of urban local bodies and help design customised action plans to improve citizen participation and promote behavioural change.Officials said the partnership aims to strengthen evidence-based policymaking, identify best practices through comparative studies of urban bodies and improve service delivery through research and innovation.
