India announces monetary grant for Skill development & Education for AARDO

Union Rural Development Minister Shri Jairam Ramesh said that AARDO( Afro-Asian Rural Development Organization) is a great forum for the countries in the continents of Africa and Asia to jointly discuss their problems, exchange views, ideas, experiences and information in the field of agriculture and rural development and to make concerted efforts, wherever possible to improve the quality of life of the rural people. In his concluding remarks at the Golden Jubilee celebrations of AARDO here, Sh. Ramesh also announced that the Prime Minister has approved a grant of 200 thousand dollars for each of the next three years to the AARDO members in the field of education and skill development. 17 Fellowships in the field of Agriculture was also announced for the member countries.

AARDO among other things achieves its objectives of alleviation of poverty and transforming the livelihood in rural areas through three-pronged strategies, namely Human Resource Development, Development of pilot projects and Dissemination of Information. AARDO has been established with the main objective to serve as a platform for promoting the welfare of its member countries on the principle of mutual help and cooperation. In the spirit of Afro-Asian solidarity and South-South cooperation, all member countries have been cooperating with each other and sharing their varied and rich experiences and knowledge for the benefit of their rural people. Starting with five founder members in 1962, namely India, Egypt, Japan, Libya and Malaysia, the organization has present membership strength of 30 that is 15 from Africa and 14 from Asia as full members and one Associate member.