Mr Sugandh Rajaram, the India High Commissioner to Ghana says Doctors in the Upper East Region will benefit from Indian scholarships to upgrade their skills for improved quality health care delivery.

He said capacity building in the areas of health and education was the core of India's cooperation with Ghana, adding that India would establish cordial relationship with the Upper East Regional Hospital in Bolgatanga and the Bolgatanga Technical University at Sumbrungu.

Mr Rajaram said this when he called on the Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Stephen Yakubu in his office as part of his six-day visit to the Region to familiarise himself with the business climate in the Region.

The High Commissioner indicated that as part of his visit to the Region, he would meet with management of the Regional Hospital and "I will be offering some of the scholarships for the Doctors to further upgrade their expertise in India."

"I will also be donating a lot of books on India to the Bolgatanga Technical University, so that the students there can benefit from the books from India. We have to start with some steps towards our cooperation," Mr Rajaram said.

He said India was committed towards the capacity building of their partner countries like Ghana, "That is why we provide 150 scholarships every year to provide skills for the people of Ghana at various levels.
"Because of COVID-19, this year, all such courses are either online or suspended. But once we come out of this situation, we will resume our scholarships, and I will work with you (Minister) to see that people benefit from professional courses in various areas," he said.

He further indicated that, India offered about 50 additional scholarships to brilliant Ghanaian students to continue their education in India, and told the Minister that "I will like to see that some of these scholarships go to brilliant young students from your Region."

Mr Rajaram said he had met with six alumni of the scholarships that India provided, and indicated that they would be reconnected to India in due course and made brand Ambassadors to India in the Region.

The Regional Minister on his part thanked the High Commissioner for his visit to the Region and recalled that about four people from the Region had benefitted from some scholarships from India over the years.

He said Ghana and India had a long-standing relationship, which dated back to the pre-colonial era, and reiterated the need for stronger bilateral relations between India and the Upper East Region and Ghana at large.

Mr Yakubu said the two countries had over the years cooperated effectively, and learnt good practices from each other to enhance the living standards of the citizenry in both countries.

He called for support to revamp the defunct Pwalugu Tomatoes and Zuarungu Meat Factories, to create more jobs and business opportunities for people in the Region.

He said the Fumbisi Rice Valley in the Builsa South District had the potential to supply rice to the entire country and beyond, and invited the India business community to take advantage of the business opportunities in the Region and invest.