UK to send IT trainers to India

14:30 17th November 2008

The British government is sending resources to India to help the state of Bihar train its IT professionals, reports Patnadaily.com.

The project, worth £18 million, will see trainers working over the next five years to make substantial changes to working practices in five of Bihar's government departments.

Land and Revenue, Commercial Taxes and Registration are just some of the administrative sectors to benefit from the package of investment.

Amir Subhani, secretary of Administrative Reforms in Bihar, told the local news site: "Taking full advantage of the internet and information technology, the scheme would later be expanded to other departments to foster overall good governance in the state."

Douglas Alexander, UK secretary of state for international development, will launch the Governance Mission project in Patna, India on November 18th.

Bihar is a largely agricultural state, although the service industry has expanded to account for 55 per cent of the economy in recent years.

The state has the lowest literacy rate in India and 31 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line.