Is Quality in Capacity Building and Training Institution Development Matters the Most? Setting Benchmarking Process and Benchmark Standards for Training Institutions WALMI Bhopal a Case in Point

Abstract

Water and Land Management Institutes across country had a very specific mandate to
cater the needs of the specific target group like land and water managers, irrigation engineers,
civil engineers, water management specialists, agriculture specialists, gender and social
development experts, professionals, para – professionals, community leaders, water users and
farmers. Over time the WALMIs in different states took larger responsibilities and widened their
network, venturing in natural resources development and management, community based
institution development and management, monitoring, evaluation, learning and documentation in
the cross sectoral setting. The WALMI, Bhopal in its recent past have been at the fulcrum of the
training and institution development in the state of Madhya Pradesh. WALMI, Bhopal being one
of the key training institutions aspire to evolve a broad framework of quality management in the
training and development, with the sole objective of setting benchmark standards for state level
training institutions, it conducted a National Workshop at Bhopal. The present paper outlines the
purpose, process and products that may suit the current and future requirements of the state
level training institutions in the state and elsewhere. The workshop proceedings led to the
internal churning and ignited the process of coining the benchmark standards for academic
qualities, enabling infrastructures, standard operating processes to conduct and manage the
trainings and forging the inter – institutional linkages in the current and future institutional eco
– system. The paper also provides the opportunities for the readers and professionals interested
in training and capacity building of the human resources at various levels to contribute and
enrich the process of adopting and adapting to the new benchmarking system and benchmark
standards. It provides an opportunity to provide the best practices evolved over time and
mainstream the key learning by converting the best practices in to indicators. The paper also
highlights the critical gaps and underlines the information requirement to satisfy the necessary
and sufficient conditions for effective measurement and monitoring framework for quality
management at such training institutions.