EPFO Academy Partners ICCfG to Embed Ethical Leadership in Public Service Training

The partnership comes at a crucial juncture as EPFO undertakes wide-ranging “Ease of Living” reforms and accelerated digital transformation.

In a significant step towards redefining public service delivery and strengthening ethical governance in India, the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya National Academy of Social Security (PDUNASS), the apex training institution of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), has entered into a strategic partnership with the IC Centre for Governance (ICCfG). The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed today in New Delhi, institutionalises a structured framework to integrate ethical leadership, moral integrity, and values-based decision-making with technical and administrative expertise for EPFO officers.

The MoU was formally signed by Shri Ram Anand, Regional Provident Fund Commissioner-I, PDUNASS, and Shri Shanti Narain, Secretary General, ICCfG, in the presence of Shri Kumar Rohit, Director, PDUNASS. The signing ceremony was attended by several eminent dignitaries from ICCfG, including Vice President Shri Mahesh Kapoor and former Secretaries to the Government of India, Shri Balvinder Kumar and Shri Anurag Goel. Senior ICCfG members Brig. Rajendra Kumar, Shri Rajiv Sachdeva, Shri Sunil Kumar, Ms. Archana Dubey, Shri Vinod K. Maurya, and Ms. Rananahi Dwivedi were also present. The PDUNASS delegation included Regional P.F. Commissioners Shri Prashant Sharma, Shri Harish Yadav, and Shri Ankur P. Gupta.

The partnership comes at a crucial juncture as EPFO undertakes wide-ranging “Ease of Living” reforms and accelerated digital transformation. With increasing reliance on technology-driven systems, the organisation faces a growing need for officers who are not only digitally and procedurally competent but also deeply rooted in ethical values, transparency, empathy, and public accountability.

Describing the collaboration as a strategic imperative, Shri Kumar Rohit, Director, PDUNASS, said that as EPFO’s responsibilities expand amid transformative reforms in India’s social security ecosystem, officers must go beyond procedural compliance. He emphasised that the alliance with ICCfG would institutionalise values-based training and help nurture principled leaders who uphold institutional credibility and public trust. According to him, the focus is shifting from merely imparting skills to consciously cultivating character and ethical judgment.

The collaboration seeks to operationalise the vision of “Mission Karmayogi” by moving from a rule-based administrative approach to role-based ethical competence. It aims to address the growing expectations of citizens for transparency, responsiveness, and integrity in the delivery of social security services that impact millions of workers and pensioners across the country.

Under the MoU, a structured and tiered annual training framework has been established. This includes specialised residential leadership and policy programmes for Group ‘A’ officers at ICCfG centres, focusing on ethical leadership, governance values, and decision-making at senior levels. In parallel, dedicated campus-based training modules for Group ‘B’ officers will be conducted at PDUNASS, with emphasis on professional conduct, ethical service delivery, and citizen-centric administration. This comprehensive approach ensures that ethical capacity-building spans all levels of the organisation, from policy formulation to field-level implementation.

Highlighting the philosophical foundation of the initiative, Shri Prabhat Kumar, President of ICCfG, former Cabinet Secretary and the first Governor of Jharkhand, remarked that integrity is both a personal virtue and a source of public power. He stressed the importance of inner alignment between duty and conscience, noting that governance transforms from a routine task into meaningful service when civil servants act with ethical clarity. He described the partnership as an effort to awaken the spirit of the ‘Karmayogi’ within every officer.

The initiative also complements recent operational reforms introduced by EPFO in 2025, including the simplified withdrawal framework and the centralized pension payment system. As automation reduces manual processes and friction, officers are increasingly required to exercise discretion in complex and sensitive cases. The PDUNASS–ICCfG partnership ensures that the human and ethical dimensions of governance evolve alongside technological advancements, reinforcing trust, fairness, and accountability in public service delivery.