Twenty local government representatives from Sri Lanka’s upcountry region have successfully completed a 10-day capacity-building programme in India, held from 19 to 29 January 2026 at the Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR) in Hyderabad. The programme was organised at the request of the Ceylon Workers’ Congress (CWC).
The training combined interactive classroom sessions with field visits, offering participants exposure to best practices in local self-governance, budgeting, participatory planning, women’s empowerment through self-help groups, primary health and education, alternative livelihoods, economic surveying methods, and eco-tourism.
As part of the programme, the delegates visited key institutions including primary health centres, Anganwadi centres, cooperative banks, women-managed dairy farms, fruit and horticulture research stations, and tea plantations in the Nilgiris. The initiative aimed to strengthen professional competencies, promote knowledge sharing, and deepen institutional linkages in local governance between India and Sri Lanka.
The programme was conducted under India’s enhanced capacity-building framework announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his State Visit to Sri Lanka in April 2025. Under this initiative, India now offers training opportunities to around 1,000 Sri Lankans annually, reinforcing long-standing cooperation between the two countries in human resource development.
