In a first for Jharkhand, nine ministers of the state's 11-member cabinet are now in IIM-Ahmedabad undergoing a leadership development training programme, the three-day course to earn them certificates on the last day on Wednesday.

Said to be the brainchild of chief minister Raghubar Das, the batch however excludes him - he was in hometown Jamshedpur on Monday - and his cabinet colleague and agriculture minister Randhir Kumar Singh, whose phone was switched off. All the rest were in class at IIM-A, ranked 29th in the 2017 Financial Times Global MBA listings.

Sending ministers to B-school to pack in governance tips is something the Indian political class has seldom done, the popular assumption being that netas need a different set of survival skills from the corporate class.

The Raghubar Das government however differs. The two-and-a-half-year-old government, which has had its share of many sticky situations, more recently the Election Commissioner's letter on Rajya Sabha polls and governor Droupadi Murmu sending back unsigned the tenancy land amendment Bills, may feel it needs to learn trouble-shooting from the best in the business.

It explains why ministers went all the way to Ahmedabad, when there was an IIM in Ranchi. Chief minister's secretary Sunil Barnwal said IIM-A was known for expertise in leadership development trainings. "Since we are training political executives, the best B-school in the particular field has been engaged," he said.

On Day One, the ministers attended a full day in class with three sessions, a lunch break sandwiched between second and third sessions. For most ministers, going back to class had its charms, those who spoke to this reporter over phone from Ahmedabad during lunch break averred.

Urban development minister C.P. Singh, doing regular classes after nearly four decades since his LLB, said it was a unique experience. "Our teacher, instead of delivering long lectures or giving lengthy notes, explained through simple examples how to make optimum use of available resources with minimum investments," he said.

What did he learn? "We were told about (British explorer) Ernest Shackleton's expeditions to the South Pole in the early 20th century. For me, Shackleton's leadership skills, presence of mind and patience amid odds were eye-openers. I strongly feel this type of training programme or refresher course should be held for all types of public servants regularly," Singh told this reporter.

Tourism minister Amar Kumar Bauri said this training would help them effectively execute various new welfare and development schemes for the rest of their term. "Today, we had three sessions. I realised collective leadership is one of our grey areas," he said.

Parliamentary affairs minister Saryu Roy stressed making the best use of new techniques and technologies would be discussed extensively during the coming sessions. Ministers would be told about how to intelligently fight problems they might face during the execution of new schemes in the next three years.

With most ministers seemingly going gaga over the classes, a muffled note of dissent, if that, came from water resources minister Chandra Prakash Choudhary of BJP ally Ajsu. Complaining that management gurus did not have specific answers to most of the practical problems, he gave a specific instance.

"As a player (minister), I can only give suggestions to my team leader (chief minister). I have no option if he turns down my request. But, management gurus say such things (read deadlock) should be sorted out through mutual discussion. They offer mysterious smiles when asked what to do if the captain is not willing to listen," he said.

Point made, Mr Minister.

As expected, Opposition reactions ranged from the snide to the sceptical. "Gujarat is now the most sacred place for BJP people. They (the ministers) won't learn anything new at IIM," JMM spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya said.

Lohardaga MLA and Congress state president Sukhdeo Bhagat "appreciated" the management training programme for cabinet ministers, but sounded sceptical about outcomes. "This government lacks willpower to honestly execute any scheme that serves the interests of the poor," he said, adding the way the government was handling the tenancy land Act amendments issue proved it was "utterly confused".

But, the Das government seems to have vast faith in the miracles of managerial training. An incubation centre is being set up in Ranchi with the help of IIM-Ahmedabad where apart from handholding new innovations, public servants of all kinds would be trained from time to time.