It gives me immense pleasure in sharing that the Arun Jaitley National Institute of Financial Management (AJNIFM) is striving to be a ‘Centre of Excellence’ for capacity building of professionals in the field of Public Financial Management. It has, over the last 30 years, diversified into areas of Public Policy, Financial Management, Financial Markets and other related areas for promoting highest standards of professional competence and practice. AJNIFM was setup in 1993 as a registered society under Ministry of Finance, Government of India. It is under the administrative control of Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, Govt. of India. It was established to train the officers recruited by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) through the Civil Services Examination and allocated to the various services responsible for managing senior and top management posts dealing with accounts and finance in the Government of India. It continues to provide professional training to the Officer Trainees of Group ‘A’ organised Accounts & Finance Services of Govt. of India. In due course of time AJNIFM has become a premier resource centre to meet the training needs of Central Government for senior and middle level of management. AJNIFM also caters to the training needs of State Governments, Defence Establishments, Autonomous Bodies and other Financial Institutions.
The activities of AJNIFM are executed through four verticals: (i) Long Term Capacity Building; (ii) Short Term Capacity Building; (iii) Action Research & Publications; and iv) Consultancies.
I. Long Term Capacity Building Programmes
i) AJNIFM provides professional training for six months to probationers of Central Group ‘A’ Finance and Accounts Services. Efforts are being made to convert it into a Master’s Programme in Public Financial Management.
ii) A Post Graduate Diploma in Government Accounting & Internal Audit (PGDGA&IA) of one year duration is conducted to upgrade the technical skills of officials of the Controller General of Accounts in the areas of Accounting, Internal Audit, Information Technology and General management and also to improve their soft skills. The scope of this programme has been proposed to be enlarged from 2023-24 to include officials of other services such as Defence Accounts, P&T Finance and Accounts and others. This will provide a platform to accounts officers of different services to interact with each other during the course and share their experience and best practices.
iii) AJNIFM runs a two-year Management Programme in Financial Management to build capacity of Govt. officials in area of Government Financial Management. Under a MoU with JNU this programme has been recognised as MBA(Financial Management) from the academic session 2022-24. This programme has provided opportunity to serving officers of various Government Departments including Defence Services, State Governments, etc. to get exposure to contemporary areas of financial management including Public Financial Management, Government Accounting Systems, Internal Control Mechanisms including Internal Audit & External Audit of Govt. Accounts, PSUs etc.
iv) AJNIFM also runs a Management Programme in Financial Markets to build domain expertise among government officials and outsiders as well. Under an MoU with JNU this programme has also been recognised as MBA (Finance) from academic session 2022-24. The participants for this programme are taken both from Government Departments and outsiders as well.
II. Short Term Capacity Building
AJNIFM provides integrated mid-career professional training to in-service officers of Central and State Governments. Management Development Programmes(MDPs) provide short-term training for middle level to senior level officers of Central Government including Defence Services, State Governments, PSUs, Autonomous Bodies and Urban Local Bodies. These courses provide opportunity for professional development, facilitate exchange of ideas, promote quality in financial management, and bring together government officials and finance managers and professionals from other disciplines.
III. Research & Publications
AJNIFM undertakes a number of action research projects broadly in the area of Financial Markets, Public Finance, etc. under the MoU/MoA signed with Govt. departments such as DEA-AJNIFM Research Programme, DOE-AJNIFM Research Programme (Procurement Research Centre), Lok Sabha Secretariat—AJNIFM Research Support Programme, etc. It publishes a bi-annual Research Journal called “NIFM Journal of Public Financial Management”.
IV. Consultancy
AJNIFM also undertakes Consultancy projects for various Departments of Union Govt. as well State Governments, Public Sector Undertakings, Municipal Bodies and Autonomous Bodies in areas related to Public Finance.
The faculty at AJNIFM is a healthy blend of Senior Government executives on deputation/secondment and academicians. The senior executives combine their rich field experience with strong academic credentials to provide a vibrant and stimulating atmosphere of training. AJNIFM has a mix base of Academic faculties, Professors of Practice/Adjunct faculties, Associated faculties, visiting faculties and senior consultants, drawn from various fields who have specialised domain knowledge and rich experience in their respective fields.
The Institute has a Library with collection of more than 37,000 books & subscription to over 64 Indian and 15 foreign printed journals and periodicals. The library also subscribes to more than 5,000 e-journals from different database. The Library is also a Member of Delnet.
The Institute has its own campus on 40 acres of delightful greenery, adjacent to the famous Badkhal Lake at Faridabad on the outskirts of the National Capital. This houses the main Institute building, participants’ accommodation (two Hostels), mess and a sports complex, with all modern day facilities. The campus also houses faculty and staff quarters. Lush green lawns and open spaces covering over eighty percent of the campus provide a conductive environment for learning.
The Institute is a place where people from different States with diverse qualification & socio-cultural backgrounds interact with each other and learn from each other. The mix of participants from Civil Service Probationers to Senior Civil Servants/Executives helps in enriching the learning atmosphere, and continuous improvements.
I welcome you to AJNIFM.
I wish all the best to all the prospective participants of various programmes.
Prabhat Ranjan Acharya
Director, AJNIFM