What Do Indian Administrative Service Offcers Learn from South Korea Exposure Visits?

The purpose of this article is to assess the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) Exposure Visit Programme to South Korea in 2008 and 2010 with respect to the content of its training programme and its effect on the IAS officers' learning and leadership development. The study adopts multiple research methods, including participatory observation of the programme, an evaluation by Indian participants, and content analysis of self-assessment learning papers. The results of the content analysis of the programme lessons are that 58 percent of the 2008 programme participants and 47 percent of participants in the 2010 programme had a clear understanding of the key lessons from the Korea visit programme and proposed how India might apply or replicate them. The study finds that there are eight core lessons and application areas from the Korea visit programme identified by programme participants: change of mindset and attitudes of government officers and citizens; leadership and vision; citizen participation; enacting social policy; increasing resources for infrastructure building and development; administration capacity; training of government officers and citizens; and a competitive approach for rural development. Several ideas are suggested for enhancing the quality of future exposure visit programmes for civil servants.