Assistant High Commissioner for India bids adieu to her many friends in Kandy
By Udumbara Udugama
Assistant High Commissioner for India in Kandy, Radha Venkataraman bade adieu to her many friends in Sri Lanka earlier this month after her successful tenure of office.
From a Tamil-speaking family from Palakkad, Kerala, she was born in Delhi. After graduating in Political Science, Public Administration and Sociology she completed her post-graduate studies in Sociology from Osmania University, Hyderabad. She has a diploma in Russian and has some knowledge of Serbo-Croat, German and Portuguese languages. Widely travelled and well read, she is passionate about music and watches movies to relax.
Speaking to the Sunday Times on her work here, she said her experience in international relations helped her to achieve this goal. “The relationship between India and Sri Lanka is thousands of years old. Both countries have a legacy of intellectual, cultural, religious, linguistic and other interactions throughout their shared history. India is a close partner of Sri Lanka in its development cooperation efforts and recent years have seen close interactions at very senior government level.
“I joined as Asst High Commissioner of Kandy in December 2014. It is a matter of pride for me that in the long history of my office, established on September 1, 1923 as the office of the Agent of India to Ceylon, I am the first woman to hold this post.”
Radha Venkataraman joined the Ministry of External Affairs(MEA) in December 1982. Prior to her stint as Asst. High Commissioner of India in Kandy, she served as the Head of Chancery in the Embassy of India, Thimpu, Bhutan in 2011 and in various capacities at Headquarters of the Ministry of External Affairs(MEA).
As the liaison officer to the Dalai Lama from March 2008 to May 2010 she was stationed in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh and has also served in various capacities in Indian Embassies abroad in Belgrade (Yugoslavia), Bonn (Germany), Minsk (Belarus) and Lisbon (Portugal).
During her three years in Kandy, she was involved in various activities – development cooperation, cultural, economic and educational and organized many programmes in the Central, Sabaragamuwa, Wayamba and Uva Provinces on behalf of the Government of India.
As part of the development cooperation in the education sector, assistance was extended to the plantation and other schools in these four provinces.
Traditional Eastern musical instruments and A-level course books have been also gifted to scores of schools in the provinces. On the specific request of GOPIO ( Global Organisation of Persons of Indian Origin) in 2016, about 100 sets of 16 books of English language training manuals of Oxford University publication were distributed to schools in the four provinces, Venkataraman said.
The Mahatma Gandhi International Centre in Matale was also built with the grant assistance of SLR 88.6 million from the Government of India during her tenure. The 150 bed Dickoya Hospital with a grant assistance of SLR 1.2 billion from India was inaugurated by Prime Minister Modi during his visit to the upcountry in May this year.
Other initiatives include 70 Child Development Centres, creches completed in plantations, computers gift- ed to the National Colleges of Education at Polgolla, Bandarawela and Ratnapura. An MOU was also signed for grant assistance of SLR 120 million to the Sri Dalada Maligawa for the establishment of a Training School and a multi purpose Hall at Pallakelle, Kandy.
Her tenure also saw the approval for the renovation of the Saraswathy Central College, Pussellawa at a cost of SLR 95 million. Plans are also afoot to upgrade the Vocational Training Centre in Hatton with a grant assistance of SLR 199 million. In addition Indian Housing Scheme assistance for construction of houses in Helbodde, Dunsinane, Diagama, Bogawantalawa and Ledgerwatte estates have commenced.
Many events such as Pravasi Bhartiya Divas for the diaspora of Indians in the upcountry areas, commemoration of great Indian leaders like B.R. Ambedkar, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya and Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel were organised during her tenure. Cultural troupes from India sponsored by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations performed in Kurunegala, Kandy, Ratnapura, Kegalle and Badulla and Ms. Venkataraman was thankful to the Provincial authorities who cooperat- ed wholeheartedly with her in organizing these events.
Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Day & International Students Day were successfully celebrated. “In 2014 there were only 30 ITEC scholarship slots allocated for the Asst.High Commission in Kandy. With special effort 100 slots have been allocated for the years 2017-18 for this technical training programme,” she said.
Two book exhibitions were also held in Kandy and hundreds of books were distributed free to the visitors and school libraries. Deepawali Mela / Bazaars were held at KCC Kandy attracting scores of visitors.
Actively involved in many social organizations, Radha Venkataraman left Kandy with mixed feelings of a job well done and a touch of sadness at leaving the many friends she had made during her stay here.