A S C I —The College for Practising Managers
Established in 1956 at the initiative of the government and the corporate sector, the Administrative Staff College of India (A S C I ), Hyderabad, has pioneered post-experience management education in India. A S C I 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. Established in 1956, it is the first and foremost institution of its kind in the country. Set up as an institution with a difference at the joint initiative of both the Government of India and the industry, it is an autonomous, self-supporting, public-purpose institution with the objectives of being 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 specialization 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: (i) Mr. John Mathai, former Union Finance Minister; (ii) Mr. Deshmukh, former Governor of RBI and former Union Finance Minister; (iii) Mr. Dharma Vira, former Cabinet Secretary to the GoI; (iv) Mr. Narasimham, former Governor of RBI, Finance Secretary to the GoI and Executive Director at the World Bank and IMF, Vice-President at ADB; (v) Dr. Abid Hussain, former Member of 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, (i) Secretary, Dept. of Personnel & Training, GoI; (ii) Finance Secretary, GoI; (iii) Secretary, Dept. of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development, GoI; and, (iv) Chief Secretary to the Government of Telangana. Dr. Nirmalya Bagchi, is currently the Director General I/c. 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. Knowledge Resources at ASCI
ASCI has on its rolls, a complement of about forty inter-disciplinary faculty members, who have higher degrees and well-rounded (academic and industry) experience in a wide range 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 Agricultue and Rural Development
Centre for Economics and Finance
Centre for Energy Studies
Centre for Environment, Urban Governance & Infrastructure Development
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 Public Policy, Governance and Performance
In addition, the Centre for Innovations in Public Systems (CIPS, www.cips.org.in) is a specialized entity at ASCI, 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. Similarly, the Centre for Excellence in Management of Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation (CMLARR, www.rlarrdc.org.in), supported by the World Bank and AusAID, has been offering capacity building interventions and research studies on the new Land Acquisition laws, procedures, compensation, R & R norms, institutional mechanisms, social impact assessment and corporate social responsibility to the Department of Land Resources, Government of India, various state governments, central public sector enterprises as well as the countries in Asia and Africa. The Enduring Values of ASCI
The motto of the College is leadership through learning. The College monogram was designed by Shri V N Adarkar of the J J Institute of Applied Arts, Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1961. The “Sanskrit Sloka” (verse in Sanskrit) in the College Monogram, chosen from the “Rigveda” X.191, the first of the four “Vedas”, texts originating in ancient India and constituting the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism, means: "Meet together; Talk together". 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".
