Capacity Building Commission

India has lakhs of civil servants. Yet for decades, a new officer often learned the job by watching the person at the next desk. Training varied from place to place. Some institutes were excellent. Others were never checked. In 2020 the government decided to change this. It built a national body to set the standards. What is the Capacity Building Commission, and what does it actually do?

1What Is the Capacity Building Commission?

• The Capacity Building Commission, or CBC, is the central body for training India’s civil servants. It began work in April 2021.
• It is a three-member commission. It has a Chairperson, a Member for HR and a Member for administration. A Secretary heads its office.
• It plans capacity building across government. It supervises civil-service training institutes and helps ministries and States make their own training plans.
• Think of it as a standard-setter. It decides what good training looks like. It does not run the classrooms itself.

2What Is Mission Karmayogi?

• The CBC is part of a bigger plan. On 2 September 2020, the Union Cabinet approved Mission Karmayogi.
• Its formal name is the National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building, or NPCSCB.
• The big idea is a shift in thinking. Civil-service HR should move from rule-based to role-based. In simple words, an officer should be trained for what the post really needs.
• Training is delivered through the iGOT Karmayogi platform. iGOT stands for Integrated Government Online Training.
• So the Mission is the plan. The CBC guides it. The platform delivers it.

3Who Sets the Standards and Who Runs the Platform?

• This is the most common exam trap, so go slowly.
• The CBC sets standards, approves plans and supervises. It is like a regulator.
• Karmayogi Bharat is a separate body. It is a special purpose vehicle, wholly owned by the government. It runs the iGOT Karmayogi platform.
• They work side by side. Karmayogi Bharat does not sit above the CBC, and the CBC does not run the platform.
• A simple way to recall it: CBC decides the standard. Karmayogi Bharat delivers the learning.

4Who Leads the CBC and Whom Does It Report To?

• The CBC’s first Chairperson was Adil Zainulbhai, from April 2021.
• On 6 August 2025, S. Radha Chauhan took charge as full-time Chairperson. She is a retired IAS officer and a former Secretary of DoPT. Her term is three years or until further orders.
• Many older notes still name Zainulbhai as Chairperson. That is now out of date.
• The CBC submits its Annual Report to the Prime Minister’s Public Human Resource Council.
• Do not say it reports to the Prime Minister alone. The Council is the body that receives the report.

5How Does UNNATI Rate a Training Institute?

• How do you know if a training institute is any good? The CBC built a tool for this. It is called UNNATI, the Unified New-Age National Training Initiative.
• It judges an institute on eight pillars. These cover areas like governance, faculty, curriculum and infrastructure.
• The result is a star rating from one to five, based on a five-stage maturity model.
• UNNATI was introduced at a roundtable in October 2021. Its portal was launched in July 2022.
• If an institute scores low, the CBC does not just leave it there. It starts a Quality Improvement Plan, with mentors and targets.
• In January 2026, the CBC said 49 such plans had been started.

6What Has Happened Since 2025?

• On 18 July 2025, Minister of State Dr Jitendra Singh launched NSCSTI 2.0. The full form is National Standards for Civil Service Training Institutions.
• The main change was simplicity. The number of assessment parameters fell from 59 to 43.
• By the end of 2025, five training institutes held the top five-star rating. All eight institutes that were re-assessed improved by at least one star.
• As of January 2026, 200 civil-service training institutions had been accredited.
• The CBC has also reached local government. More than 1.75 lakh urban local body officials were onboarded to the iGOT platform in 2025.

7What Should You Remember for Exams?

Must Know

• The CBC is the standard-setter under Mission Karmayogi.
• Mission Karmayogi (NPCSCB) was approved in September 2020.
• Karmayogi Bharat runs the iGOT platform.

Good to Know

• The CBC began work in April 2021.
• Its Annual Report goes to the PM’s Public HR Council.
• UNNATI uses eight pillars.
• HR moves from rule-based to role-based.

Great to Know

• The CBC does not run iGOT (Trap).
• Its Chairperson is now S.
• Radha Chauhan, not Adil Zainulbhai (Trap).
• NSCSTI 2.0 cut the metrics from 59 to 43 (Trap).