Bhubaneswar, August 13:The Odisha Urban Academy (OUA) and Sri Sri University are set to join hands to strengthen human-centred capacity building across Odisha’s urban governance system.

A high-level review meeting in this regard was held on Thursday at the Kharabela Bhawan under the chairmanship of Usha Padhee, Additional Chief Secretary of the Housing & Urban Development Department. The meeting focused on finalising a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the OUA and Sri Sri University.

Swami Satyachaitanya, Director of Operations at Sri Sri University, outlined the scope, objectives and proposed implementation framework of the initiative. Senior officials, including Director of Municipal Administration Arindam Dakua, Director of Odisha Urban Academy Suvendu Sahu, WATCO Managing Director Debabrata Mohanty, Joint Secretary Mamatarani Naik and other senior departmental officers, attended the meeting.

The proposed collaboration aims to move beyond conventional institution-focused training by placing greater emphasis on the holistic development, well-being and professional effectiveness of individuals involved in urban governance.

Under the partnership, the OUA and Sri Sri University will jointly design and conduct specialised capacity-building programmes for government officers, municipal executives and personnel of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs). The training will cover areas such as stress management, meditation, conflict resolution, peacebuilding and other aspects of personal and professional development.

A key component of the initiative will be the development of a cadre of professionally trained counsellors to provide psycho-social and legal support. The partnership will also explore the use of digital technology to extend support services and capacity-building interventions to underserved and unreached urban communities.

The initiative seeks to promote aKarmayogiwork culture based on ethical leadership, emotional well-being, empathy, professionalism and citizen-centric governance.

The proposed collaboration is aligned with the broader vision of Viksit Odisha 2036 and Viksit Bharat 2047 and is expected to support the government’s efforts to make Odisha’s cities more inclusive, resilient, efficient and globally liveable.

Chairing the meeting, Padhee stressed that strengthening urban administration requires not only professional competence but also greater attention to the mental, emotional and psychological well-being of public functionaries. She highlighted the need to create a work environment that enables public servants to perform their responsibilities with empathy, resilience and greater effectiveness.

Padhee directed the concerned officials to expedite the preparation of specific Terms of Reference and finalise the implementation framework to ensure the early rollout of the proposed training modules.