Happiness lessons for govt officials and professionals

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Irrespective of profession, happiness is the need of every individual. The difference here is that when we speak to someone from the judiciary, we will include more examples and reflection from that domain. It can be customised in a similar way for the police as well KARTIK DAVE, Dean

nNEWDELHI: Ambedkar University of Delhi (AUD) will soon launch a three-month happiness programme for adults, including professionals, government officials and those in higher education. The university panel, tasked with preparing the curriculum, will submit its draft to a consultative committee towards the end of this month.

“The entire curriculum will revolve around minimising conflicts within oneself, with family, society and harmony with nature. The curriculum will be put up before a consultative committee on March 27-28 for further inputs,” the university’s PR office said. “The [three-month] certificate programme will have workshops and seminars on critical thinking, reflection and how to integrate the learning with professional practice.”

In August, the varsity had announced it would prepare a happiness curriculum for judges after former chief justice Ranjan Gogoi suggested judicial academies could have such classes like those in Delhi government schools. Following this, an internal committee was constituted to prepare a draft curriculum.

“The consultative committee, which comprises 15-20 experts from different fields, will look at the draft, give inputs, and vet it. The final curriculum, with necessary changes, will then be sent for university-level discussions,” said Kartik Dave, Dean of School of Business, Public Policy and Social Entrepreneurship.

The university is keen on starting the three-month certificate programme this year. Dave, who is a member of the committee, said the curriculum would be “customisable” for different sectors like judiciary, police, academic, and corporates.

“Irrespective of profession, happiness is the need of every individual. The difference here is that when we speak to someone from the judiciary, we will include more examples and reflection from that domain. It can be customised in a similar way for the police as well,” he said.

In addition to the three-month certificate programme, the course will also be offered as a two-day training workshop for professionals and as a one-year diploma course for those wanting to replicate the happiness curriculum model.

“The two-day workshop would be like an introductory programme which would be added to the existing training programmes for different government officials. We could also do this on our own and draw people from all walks of life. We are encouraging all individuals to take up this programme at some point,” Dave said.

After the Delhi government introduced the happiness curriculum in its schools under which students from class 1 to 8 were introduced to mindfulness and other exercises, several state government officials visited the schools to learn more about the curriculum.

“The one-year diploma course would be a “train the trainer” programme. Anybody wishing to introduce the happiness programme or become trainers in this field, could enrol for this programme and would be trained in the course,” Dave said, adding they were working on this course.