AS India celebrates its 75th Independence Anniversary, the High Commission of India in Guyana has embarked on a series of commemorative events, one of which was an Essay-Writing Competition which concluded on Thursday with a prize-giving exercise. The competition, which ran from March to April, facilitated writings from three categories – the primary school level, the high school level and the college level and above. In total, the competition attracted seven winners across the three categories; on Thursday, those persons were awarded cash prizes, gifts and certificates by High Commissioner, Dr K J Srinivasa, during a simple ceremony at the Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre.

During the event, High Commissioner Srinivasa also congratulated Bhedesh Persaud, topper of Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) 2020 and Zane Ramoutar, who topped the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) 2020, with cash prizes and gifts. While addressing those present at the event, Dr. Srinivasa conveyed appreciation to all the winners and participants of the competition for their entries and briefed them on the range of full scholarships offered by India to Guyanese students interested in pursuing higher studies in premium institutes/universities in India.

He further advised all those eligible to apply for the scholarships before the due date which is May 20, 2021. He exhorted the students to stay steadfast in their goals, serve their family and country with devotion and help the needy. The High Commissioner also spoke about the crucial role played by the Indian diaspora in Guyana, in the economic, political and social development of the country, excelling in all areas. He said that India is very proud of the achievements by the Indo-Guyanese diaspora and their role in the development of Guyana and looks forward to working closely with the youth of Guyana to improve their skills and capabilities through various scholarship and training programmes.