The Graduation Ceremony of 36th Senior Management Course was held at NIPA. 39 officers from different service groups of Federal and Provincial governments including autonomous corporations received certificates. CEO Bank of Punjab Mr. Zafar Masood honored the occasion with his presence as Chief Guest. While addressing the participants of SMC, Mr. Zafar Masood stated that they all deserve much more gratitude for the services you are rendering to the homeland. He said, “In these challenging times your job involves taking risks, under such circumstances working for civil service has now become a Jihad”. Zafar Masood maintained that no such system exists in any part of the world where decision making is flawless, on a strategic and administrative level mistakes happen but our system does not give room for mistakes. He opined that the management course curriculum needs to be revisited in accordance with the modern age technological and digital advancements. The Chief Guest announced that BoP will make its small contribution to facilitate officers by installing an ATM inside NIPA premises. DG National Institute of Public Administration Mr. Saif-ur-Rehman emphasized the importance of technological advancements and said “civil servants have to realign themselves in AI driven world”. He stated that we are not masters but servants of the people, we have to utilize our professional acumen for the public. Earlier, Chief Instructor of NIPA Mr. Khaliq Sheikh briefed the audience about the 36th SMC. During the course, different activities including lecture discussions, simulation exercises, case study researches and field visits were conducted. Mr. Khaliq Sheikh said that we have launched the initiative of inviting practitioners and professionals to train the participants. “Local study visit included HQ Pakistan Rangers Sindh, meeting with Chief Secretary Sindh and Consul Generals of Turkiye and Malaysia”, informed Khaliq Sheikh. He said that the officers also visited Islamabad, Murree and Azad Jammu & Kashmir. Former Chief Instructor Samina Intizar received compliments from all speakers of the ceremony since she is retiring in January 2025 after 30 years of service.