Mobilise knowledge resources to implement key UPA schemes: NAC

Highlighting lack of institutional capacity as "most persistent and critical problems", the National Advisory Council (NAC) today pitched for mobilisation of knowledge resources for effective implementation of UPA's flagship programmes.
The Sonia Gandhi-led NAC said knowledge must be recognised as a critical resource -- on par with and distinct from financial and human resources.
"Acknowledging this is essential in any effort to build institutional capacity for improved implementation of programmes," it said.
Suggesting 10 action points for knowledge resource management, the NAC working group on governance reforms said each flagship programme must have an acknowledged knowledge partner that is organisation with which there is a strategic memorandum of understanding.

It said implementing organisation of each flagship programme in every district and state level must be aware of the knowledge partner assigned to it for each domain where support is needed.
"Skilled professionals to staff the resource centres could be on deputation from partner organisations or it could be taken from open market," the advisory panel said.
It said salary scales for such persons should be fixed in parity to the best of the public sector academic institutions, with monetisation of perks, and on contractual or consultancy terms similar to UGC scales or scientists of CSIR scales.