In our view, The Chief Minister’s Good Governance Associates (CMGGA) Programme in Haryana, witnessed a shift from being a ‘Shooting Star’ with high political salience and low system capacity to 'Battle Ready' with high political salience and high system capacity within two years since its inception in 2016.

The CMGGA Programme assigns one CMGGA (a young professional) to each of Haryana’s 22 districts. It has been the longest running fellowship programme in the country, providing young professionals a platform to closely work with the district administration to catalyze implementation of flagship initiatives of the state.

The initial phase was characterized by high political will but limited system capacity that could leverage CMGGAs effectively as catalysts for governance outcomes. This evolved over the first 2 years as these young professionals were strategically positioned as “insider-outsiders” within the bureaucracy. This allowed the associates to bring in fresh perspectives and innovative solutions while leveraging existing governmental processes, thereby demonstrating the value they added. Further, to ensure the professional development of the CMGGAs, emphasis was placed on integrating a field-to-forum approach in the programme while giving sustained mentorship to the associates. Alongside this a strong programme team was established that ensured strategic positioning and structured support for the fellows placed in districts.

The CMGGA programme’s evolution demonstrates the impact of sustained political will and strategic capacity building. As a result, CMGGAs were able to catalyze transformative and sustainable governance outcomes including Antyodaya Saral, Saksham Ghoshna, eOffice, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao and Amrit Sarovar among others.