VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Indian Ambassador to Indonesia, Manoj Kumar Bharti, offered a training program to improve appropriate technology to the Government of Indonesia. He stated this during a visit to the office of the Ministry of Villages, PDT and Transmigration, Friday (12/8/2022).

"I have visited a number of villages in Kalimantan, Java, North Sumatra, Aceh, Bali and NTT," he said. The Indian Ambassador admitted that he was impressed with the condition of villages in Indonesia.

Therefore, Manoj hopes that there will be cooperation in improving human resources in the fields of science and technology.

The Indian government, he said, has a training and scholarship program in the field of science and technology that has been going on since 1994. One of the advantages of this program is the application of appropriate technology.

"Our principle is to emphasize the use of technology that does not require large costs and very sophisticated devices," he said. "The important thing is how to optimize the existing potential and local wisdom."

Manoj gave an example, several years ago his country had sent a satellite to Planet Mars. Thus, India became the first country to successfully send a satellite to the planet in one try.

"This is what I call our model technology," he asserted. "We want to share with other countries through existing training and education programs in India," he said.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration, Abdul Halim Iskandar, welcomed the cooperation offered by the Indian side.

According to him, the Kemendes PDTT currently has 35 thousand village assistants who need information technology support. The goal is to monitor the activities and dynamics of villagers in Indonesia on a day-to-day and real time basis.

Gus Halim explained that currently his party is facing a fairly complex problem. Namely, how to deal with a large number of villages.

Currently, the Ministry of Villages PDTT has to handle 74,961 villages with all conditions and cultural and linguistic differences throughout Indonesia. In addition, there are 62 underdeveloped areas and various transmigration areas.

"We have to handle everything from development planning, implementation, supervision, community involvement and all aspects of the village," said the Minister.

Therefore, it welcomes the offer of cooperation from India. "Of course we really need the support of qualified information technology management in processing it in such a way," he said. (RRI)