ASCI – The College for Practicing Managers
Established in 1956 at the initiative of the government and the corporate sector, the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI ), Hyderabad, has pioneered post-experience management education in India. ASCI equips corporate managers, administrators, entrepreneurs and academicians with the skills to synthesize managerial theory and practice; and respond to the ever-increasing complexity of managerial issues confronting government, industrial enterprises and non-government organizations.
The Administrative Staff College of India is an institution of excellence and national importance. ASCI is a registered society by the constitution. It is an autonomous, self-supporting, public-purpose institution with the objectives of a think-tank for policy inputs and to build the capacities of practicing professionals in the management of government and business enterprises.
At the apex of its governance structure is a policy-setting, oversight body, the Court of Governors (CoG). It is a virtual who’s who of eminent professionals, public figures and industry leaders who have distinguished themselves in their respective fields of specialisation in education, enterprise, administration, management and governance spanning a wide variety of sectors like agriculture, banking, engineering, economics, judiciary, law, manufacturing, science and technology and public administration.
The Chairmen of the Court of Governors since inception are:
- Mr. John Mathai, former Union Finance Minister;
- Mr. C.D. Deshmukh, former Governor of RBI and former Union Finance Minister;
- Mr. Dharma Vira, former Cabinet Secretary to the GoI;
- Mr. M. Narasimham, former Governor of RBI, Finance Secretary to the GoI and Executive Director at the World Bank and IMF, Vice-President at ADB;
- Dr. Abid Hussain, former Member of the Planning Commission and Ambassador to the USA
The current Chairman, Sri K Padmanabhaiah, IAS (Retd), was the Former Home Secretary, Government of India.
The Court of Governors of ASCI includes, in ex-officio capacity,
- Secretary, Dept. of Personnel & Training, GoI;
- Finance Secretary, GoI;
- Secretary, Dept. of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, GoI; and,
- Chief Secretary to the Government of Telangana.
Dr Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar, IAS (Retd.) is currently the Director General. He is the Chief Executive of the College. He functions under the overall guidance of the CoG, leading, facilitating and coordinating the functions of the College and its activities.
Activities of ASCI
Capacity building and applied research assignments constitute the bedrock of the activities of ASCI. They have the larger societal benefit and public good as the key cornerstones. ASCI integrates economic, social, cultural, financial, technological, regulatory, human, organizational, and environmental aspects into its management training and action-research initiatives for addressing issues of topical interest and current concern to the government and the industry. With its focus on policy, strategy, management, governance, regulation and socio-economic impact evaluation, ASCI brings knowledge inputs, informed advice, best practice and innovative ideas to bear on its training, policy advocacy, advisory and implementation-assistance services. In the process, it provides opportunities to State and Central Government Departments and Ministries in India and abroad and the industry, to develop sustainable policies, devise inclusive strategies and deploy robust plans towards improved economic performance, human development and social progress.
As a result, ASCI enjoys the trust and confidence of the government and industry and is relied upon and entrusted with assignments of varied scale, scope, sweep, spread and specialisation.
Capacity-Building Programs
- 200 Management Development Programmes (MDPs) per year are conducted, on a variety of functional management areas, theme-specific domains and sectoral disciplines
- About 4,500 participants benefit from these programs every year. As on date, more than 1,40,000 civil servants and executives from the industry have been trained by the College. That about 250 international participants from about 100 organisations in 46 countries benefit from its programs signifies the global reputation and reach of ASCI.
- The international programmes of ASCI leverage the enduring partnerships that it built and nurtured with similar top-notch institutions abroad in Asia (China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam), Europe (France, Germany, Italy, Slovenia and Switzerland) and the US provide the much-desired exposure on global best practices, to the participants of its programs.
- Two full time AICTE approved long duration programmes – PGDM & PGDHM are offered.
- Online (Synchronous & Asynchronous) programmes are being organised on topics of current relevance.
Research & Consultancy
- ASCI is the chosen advisory and research destination for about 110 international and national organizations, year on year.
- Apart from several Ministries of the Government of India and Departments of State Governments, several bilateral and multilateral institutions choose ASCI as their knowledge-partner for their applied/action research projects and consultancy projects.
- These include the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Children’s Fund, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific, the United States Agency for International Development, the Department for International Development (UK), Japan Bank for International Cooperation, Japan International Cooperation Agency, the Commonwealth Secretariat, Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (Germany), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, among others.
Knowledge Resources at ASCI
ASCI has on its rolls, a complement of about 35 inter-disciplinary faculty members, who have well-rounded (academic and industry) experience in wide range of disciplines and domains. This core team is assisted by a strong contingent of academic and research support staff. The faculty and research teams, based on their domain expertise and research interests, operate from the following Centres:
- Centre for Agriculture and Rural Development
- Centre for Economics and Finance
- Centre for Energy Studies
- Centre for Environment, Urban Governance & Infrastructure Development
- Dr. Kakarla Subba Rao Centre for Healthcare Management
- Centre for Human Resources Development
- Centre for Innovation and Technology
- Centre for Management Studies
- Centre for Managerial Communication and Marketing
- Centre for Management of Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation
- Centre for National Security Studies & India’s Foreign Relations
- Centre for Public Policy, Governance and Performance.
- Centre for Innovations in Public Systems (established by the Govt. of India on the recommendation of the Thirteenth Finance Commission. The Centre addresses areas that need systematic attention and contributes towards sustainable outcomes in meeting rising social aspirations. It provides assistance to the State Governments in developing policies for promoting an innovative culture for transforming creative ideas into sustainable practices at the local level. The Centre thus helps create a climate to nurture a culture for accelerating and diffusing innovation in public systems.)
Our Value Statement
The translation of the full Sloka is:
“Meet together Talk together May your minds comprehend alike Common be your action and achievement Common be your thoughts and intentions Common be the wishes of your hearts ….So there may be thorough union among you” – College Monogram, chosen from the “Rigveda” X.191.
It is these ideals, values and principles guide the knowledge-exchange and experience-sharing that set ASCI apart as a unique institution and make it a much sought-after learning forum for young managers and top officials alike from the government, public and private sectors, from within and outside India.
“It gives me great pleasure to be associated with the Golden Jubilee celebrations of ASCI. The College has served our nation with great distinction. I pray that the next 50 years will be still more productive in the service of our people”
— Dr Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India, Year