India-Guyana Alumni Association gets new life
President Dr. Irfaan Ali and Indian High Commissioner Dr. K.J Srinivasa (Carl Croker photo)
President Dr. Irfaan Ali and Indian High Commissioner Dr. K.J Srinivasa (Carl Croker photo)

By Cassandra Khan
THE India-Guyana Alumni Association was relaunched on Tuesday, as the two nations commemorated the 58th Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Day during a reception hosted by India’s High Commissioner to Guyana, Dr. K.J Srinivasa.

The alumni association brings together Guyanese who participated in the various Indian scholarship programmes including the ITEC, Know India Programme, ICCR Commonwealth Scholarships, Hindi, and the newly introduced defence training courses for friendly foreign countries.

President Dr. Irfaan Ali, in his address at the ceremony, said that one of the most significant relationships between India and Guyana has been its partnerships in human transformation.
He related that there must be a reason as to why India produces such phenomenal human beings for the world, as one could not simply conclude that it is because of the size of the country and its large human resource base.

A cultural dance performance at the ITEC day reception (Carl Croker photo)

“It must be something more inherently important that has led to this known fact of India today, producing some of the world’s best CEOs (Chief Executive Officers) and the important issue is that it straddles different sectors; it is not limited to a particular sector,” Dr. Ali said.

He added that this speaks to the system that is designed to ensure there is human resource capacity development at the highest level.
“That is a very important aspect of the ITEC programme, the functionality of the programme. For us in Guyana, one of the important plans of the foundation that we’re building is human resource transformation. We cannot develop at the pace we want to develop with the size we want to develop, with the population, if we do not invest in human resource plans,” the Head of State said.

As it is now, India already has plans in place to enhance and advance technical and economic co-operation.
According to the Indian High Commissioner, the alumni association, for instance, is expected to offer networking opportunities, where graduates could communicate with each other, receive information on future Government of India programmes and plans for Guyana and Guyanese.

“Technical and economic co-operation was considered to be one of the essential functions of an integrated and imaginative foreign policy. The ITEC Programme, fully funded by the Government of India, has evolved and grown over the years,” Dr. Srinivasa said.

A section of the gathering at the reception on Tuesday (Office of the President photo)

The ITEC Programme was launched on September 15, 1964, by the Ministry of External Affairs of India as a bilateral programme of assistance of the Government of India.
Some 161 countries in Asia, Africa, East Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean as well as the Pacific and Small Island Countries are participants of the programme.

Dr. Srinivasa related that the ITEC courses are generally meant for civilians, but the Indian Government has introduced defence training for the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) under the Friendly Foreign Countries Programme.

There were 19 slots allocated last year and this year 38 slots have been allocated for the army, navy and the air force.
“These various defence training slots are both of general and specialised nature which include Security and Strategic Studies, Defence Management, Electronics, Mechanical Engineering, Marine Hydrography, Counter-Insurgency, Jungle Warfare and also foundation courses for young officers from army, navy and air force,” Dr. Srinivasa said.

He added: “Guyana is an important partner for India in the area of development partnership co-operation and our co-operation with Guyana is purely driven by Guyana’s requirements and its priorities. India has been able to contribute significantly to Guyana’s capacity building and skill development by training of more than 600 government officials under ITEC Programme.”

He also mentioned that any private individual applicant or person requiring assistance in training or skill development could apply directly to the High Commission, if they are qualified for the particular training course they are interested in.

“Organisations like the chambers of commerce, Private Sector Commission, GMSA or even a private company could nominate suitable candidates directly to the High Commission. Their applications will be considered under our discretionary mechanism.

“This is to promote private sector in seeking skill development to ensure the availability of a highly skilled ICT workforce and to act as a tool for furthering relations between the two countries in future,” Dr. Srinivasa said.
Dr. Ritish Tularam, who participated in the ICCR programme, said that he was a two-time beneficiary of the scholarship which was funded by the Government of India in collaboration with the Government of Guyana during the periods 2013 to 2014 and 2017 to 2020 respectively.

In 2013, he was awarded a scholarship for a Master’s Degree in Education, at Delhi University.
“Subsequently, [I] received another award in 2017-2020 for a PhD degree in education. The dissertation focused on continuous professional development… I must ascend to the fact that the possibilities and opportunities were numerous in this new horizon and academic space, especially at the Delhi University,” Tularam said.

He added: “One of the central hubs are education engagements and so I used this once in a lifetime opportunity to build, strengthen and foster networking partnerships, collaborations, thereby creating collegial spaces for continuous share and deliberation on new information, ideas, perspectives, views and opinions on various academic matters with looming, everybody’s institutions.”

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