Twenty local government representatives from Sri Lanka’s upcountry region have completed a 10-day capacity-building programme at the National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR) in Hyderabad, India, held from January 19 to 29, 2026.
Organized at the request of the Ceylon Workers’ Congress (CWC), the programme combined interactive sessions and field visits to expose participants to best practices in local governance, the Indian High Commission in Colombo said in a statement.
Topics included participatory planning, budgeting, women’s empowerment, health and education services, eco-tourism, and alternative livelihoods.
Delegates visited key institutions such as Anganwadi Centres, cooperative banks, women-led dairy farms, fruit and horticulture research facilities, and tea plantations in the Nilgiris.
The initiative forms part of India’s expanded capacity-building framework for Sri Lanka, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his April 2025 visit. Under this framework, India now offers 700 additional customized training slots annually for Sri Lankan professionals, in addition to ongoing training under the ITEC programme and the civil service training MoU, the High Commission said. (Newswire)