30 Guyanese heading to India for special ITEC course

A group of 30 individuals from law enforcement agencies and various social service organisations in Guyana are visiting India for a special course under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme.
The course is being hosted by the National Forensic Sciences University, Gandhinagar in the Indian State of Gujarat.
The Indian High Commission in Georgetown said this initiative reaffirmed the longstanding partnership that Guyana and India shared.
“This is a first-of-its-kind initiative under the guidance of leadership from both countries that a special course on forensic examination and interview techniques is being organised … for our Guyanese friends,” the High Commission stated in a post on its Facebook page.

Prior to leaving the Guyanese delegation of officials/experts met with Indian High Commissioner, Dr Amit Telang, who emphasised the importance of the ITEC Programme in implementing such citizen-centric capacity-building initiatives.
Dr Telang also underlined that ITEC scholars are India’s brand ambassadors who have consistently contributed to strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries.
The ITEC Programme comprise short-term courses at prestigious institutions of India for nationals of selected partner countries across the world. In 2022, 19 officers of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) were selected to study in India and for 2023, the Government of Guyana was allocated a total of 46 slots.
In addition to the GDF, ranks of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) have also benefited from this scholarship programme.
Back in May 2023, Commander of Regional Division Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), Senior Superintendent of Police, Shivpersaud Bacchus underwent training in India via the ITEC Programme on Introduction to Ethical Hacking at the premier Police institute of India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy in Hyderabad.
As part of the Police and military training courses being offered by the Government of India under ITEC, Head of the GPF’s Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), Assistant Commissioner Fazil Karimbaksh, and three GDF ranks also benefited from a scholarship.
The three GDF officers were chosen to study a two-month General Intelligence and Security Course at the Military Intelligence Training School in Pune, Maharashtra while the SOCU Head studied a one-week course on Economic Offences at the premier Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy in Hyderabad.
Then, in November 2023, six junior ranks of the GPF and one logistics officer from the Ministry of Home Affairs were granted a one-week ITEC scholarship for Infrastructure for Electric Vehicle (EV) Deployment at the NTPC School of Business in Uttar Pradesh.
However, the ITEC Programme is available for all eligible Guyanese, not just officers of the Police and Defence Forces.
In March 2023, Ria Bisnauth, a Special Project Officer with the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC), travelled to Indiranagar, Bengaluru for a two-week course on Climate Change Policy Development and Financing at the Environment Protection Training and Research Institute.
Also on that trip was Kumar Kissoon, a Finance Manager at Teleperformance, who participated in a two-week course on dynamics of high performing team at the Jaipuria Institute of Management in Lucknow.

The ITEC Programme began in 1964 as part of the Government of India’s development experiences with fellow developing countries on the basis of partnership and cooperation for mutual benefit. The Government of India covers all expenses related to the training under the ITEC Programme and provide the trainees with a return air ticket, accommodation charges, tuition fee, living expenses, medical expenses, and external and internal tours as per the course curriculum.