World Bank and India

In India, WBI’s urban governance and management program supports the establishment of a Certification Program in City Management within local capacity development and learning institutions. Engagement with the Indian urban sector takes place at the national level with the Advisory Committee on Certification in City Management chaired by the Ministry of Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation, and at the state government level with the respective urban development departments mandated to oversee the development of urban local bodies. At the institutional level WBI cooperates with the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) and Yashada the state training institution of Maharashtra. WBI facilitates the adaptation of a nationally accepted curriculum on urban management. More than 200 city managers have completed the program to date. The program is now scaling-up by increasing the number of institutions in the certification network WBI also facilitats web-based learning; integration of the certification model in World Bank lending operations in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu to date; and through the capacity building component of the Government of India’s National Urban Renewal Mission.

PROUD TO BE INDIAN

World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick has namedSanjay Pradhan to head the World Bank Institute (WBI), the learning, training and capacity-building arm of the World Bank Group. Mr. Pradhan, an Indian national, is a leading authority on governance and public sector capacity building, combining a distinguished research record with extensive operational experience. In recent years he led the design and implementation of the World Bank Group’s Governance and Anticorruption Strategy. Before his appointment as Vice-President for WBI, Mr. Pradhan directed the Bank's Public Sector Governance Group from September 2002, where he oversaw worldwide advisory and lending services to governments on public sector management, public finance and governance. Mr. Pradhan joined the Bank Group in 1986 as a Young Professional. Subsequently, he held various positions, including Sector Manager, Public Sector, in the South Asia as well as Europe and Central Asia Regions. Mr. Pradhan was also a principal author of the World Development Report 1997, The State in a Changing World. He holds a PhD and Bachelor’s degree from Harvard University.
The WBI works with local training partners, universities and other academic institutions, and centers of excellence to bring global and local knowledge to bear on national and regional development issues. Through its courses and seminars, professional networks, and communities of practice, WBI creates opportunities for South-South and North-South knowledge exchange and innovation. For more than 50 years, WBI has influenced half a million public and private sector decision makers around the world, many of whom have become leaders and change agents in their countries.
“Today policymakers around the world want to know what has worked elsewhere, and they want to connect with practitioners in other parts of the world. They want just-in-time global knowledge that can be customized for local conditions. The World Bank Institute can serve as a premier global platform that connects practitioners with cutting-edge development knowledge.” Mr. Pradhan said. “By supporting dynamic capacity development that inspires, informs and catalyzes innovative reforms across countries, the World Bank Institute can play a very helpful role in improving development outcomes.”