Male, Oct 12 (IANS) As many as 765 Maldivian candidates from various sectors have been trained through the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation programme (ITEC) over the past years. This year, 80 Maldivian candidates have already been enrolled and will undergo training through ITEC, a report has detailed.
India has raised the annual slots allocated for the Maldives from 200 to 300 over the past two years, showcasing that the programme is working and that more Maldivians want to undergo training, according to an opinion piece in Maldives-based Sun Online.
The programme does not serve only one ministry or profession, but involves candidates from the Maldives Police Service and the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA), the Maldives Customs Service, the People’s Majlis Secretariat, the Elections Commission and the Anti-Corruption Commission. The candidates from Maldives’ major ministries like health, labour, economic development, and homeland security have participated in it.
Over 1,090 candidates have been trained in Civil Service Commission in five years, with 139 enrolled in 2026 alone. Over 248 candidates have completed training through the local government authority, with 86 participating in 2026, according to the report.
“Capacity building of this kind is among the most sustainable forms of bilateral cooperation. A bridge will serve a generation. A trained and capable workforce will shape several. When India invests in the professional development of Maldivian public servants, it is investing in the long-term health of our institutions and by extension, in the wellbeing of every Maldivian those institutions exist to serve,” Naail Hafeez wrote in Sun Online.
“The India-Maldives relationship has many dimensions; infrastructure, trade, defence, culture. But perhaps the most enduring investment of all is this one: consistent work of building human capacity, one trained professional at a time,” he wrote.
In September, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar held a meeting with his Maldivian counterpart Iruthisham Adam on the sidelines of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), where both sides reviewed bilateral ties and multilateral cooperation.
–IANS
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