India providing industrial training to Afghan students to open up new employment avenues for them b

New Delhi, Mar 22 (ANI): A group of Afghan students are learning entrepreneurial skills in an Entrepreneurship Development Programme at the Technical Service Center of the government-run National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) Limited here.

A total of 25 trainees, including a visually impaired male and one female trainee started their month-long training on March 12. All trainees hail from the northern Afghan province of Balkh.

The project is self-financed with some financial help from the Balkh provincial government. Its governor has taken a personal interest in the project.

During their training, the Afghan students, all of whom are in their early twenties, would be taught ways to become successful entrepreneurs.

Anand Kumar, Vice Consul, Consulate General of India, Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan, told ANI that the genesis of this training programme goes back to the visit of an eighteen member trade delegation from Northern Afghanistan to attend the India International Trade Fair (IITF) in November 2011.

The training programme has been divided into three parts. The first part would cover qualities required for being a successful entrepreneur and learning about theory required for starting an enterprise. The second part will give them practical exposure such as how to work on machines for which they have been trained and visits to factories to gain practical experience. The third part will focus on accounting needed to run an industry or a small enterprise.

Said Naim, the team leader and a representative of the Governor of Balkh, said the students were learning all skills, ranging from manufacturing to the marketing of the products. He believed the programme would strengthen ties between India and Afghanistan.

The Afghan students are receiving training in the making of biscuits, bread, soya milk, cement bricks, nails,oil extraction from seeds with packing, manufacture of detergent powder, soap and tomato sauce making, all of which are fast moving consumer goods (FMCG).

Sayed Mohammed, a visually impaired student, expressed satisfaction with the training he was getting at the NSIC, and added that it would benefit him in the future.

Nasaruddin, another student, said new avenues were waiting for him in his country after he completes his training in New Delhi.

A second batch of the trainees from Balkh is expected to start their training from April 16.

Once successful, the model would be replicated in other Afghan provinces. The programme is expected to help the Afghan government fight insurgency in areas where unemployment is the basic reason for youth to get attracted to it. (ANI)