Accra, Oct 29, GNA - Mr. Kaikhsrou K. Framji, Indian High Commissioner to Ghana on Thursday said over 600 Ghanaians have benefited from the Indian government scholarship programme -Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation and Special Commonwealth Assistance for Africa Programme (ITEC/SCAAP) since its inception in 1964.
He said the allocation for the year 2004-2005 is 60 slots out of which, 40 participants have already either completed their training in India or are undergoing the training.
Nominations of the rest of the 20 persons were in different stages of processing and all of them would be leaving for India this year.
Mr. Framji, who said this at a reception held for beneficiaries of the programme in Accra said ITEC Day was held by Indian missions around the world to provide a platform to renew contacts amongst ITEC alumni and to further strengthen the bilateral relations between India and Ghana.
He said a total of 1350 training slots were allotted every year out of which 60 per cent or 800 slots were earmarked for candidates from Africa for training in India.
Mr. Framji said India was presently extending technical training to around 141 countries, adding that around 25,000 foreign nominees had received training under the programme in diverse fields such as management, computer information technology, journalism, parliamentary internship, banking, small-scale industry, agriculture, food processing, electronics renewable energy, audit hydrology and water resource development.
He said training in both civil and military fields to upgrade human resources and skills to meet the challenges of an increasingly competitive global environment was a growing requirement for all developing countries.
He noted that most of the courses were of short duration, ranging from one to four months adding, however that some diploma and masters degree courses last for one to two years.
Mr. Framji said human resource development was critical for any country's economic and technological advancement and India had the necessary technology and rich pool of trained and skilled manpower appropriate for the needs of developing countries in Africa, Asia and elsewhere.
In addition to the training, he said, ITEC also assist developing countries in financing and implementing selected projects and has provided technology appropriate to the needs of these countries. In Ghana, these projects include clinic, mobile clinic, artificial limbs for an artificial limb centre and supply of water pumps for drinking water in rural areas.
He thanked the government of Ghana for her cooperation in making the ITEC programme a success, adding that feedback from participants enabled them to bring about changes in their training curriculum and have helped to make the training more useful and relevant to the needs of the future participants.
Mr. Simon Puli, Chief Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said due to the close ties between the two countries, Ghana had benefited a lot from India's training programmes and expressed the hope that the friendly relationship would continue to grow.
He also thanked the Indian government for her technical support to Ghana and all the projects, which are being implemented, by the Indian government in Ghana.
