10 May 2011
At long last, some progress is visible on the Overseas Indians Centre (Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra) with the Minister of Overseas Indians Affairs, Vayalar Ravi, laying its foundation stone last week.Over the past few years, Ravi’s ministry has made some efforts to increase its level of engagement with the diaspora. While there are a plethora of issues concerning non-resident Indians, one can say that most of those within the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Overseas Indians Affairs (MOIA) have been addressed if not completely solved.
Issues that require inter-ministerial or inter-institutional handling are the ones still on the back burner. For instance, the issue of allowing voting through postal ballot or at embassies is pending clearance from the election commission and the law ministry. Similarly, other bodies are involved in matters like fast track courts, special police cells, admission quotas, air fares, airport charges, etc.Many of these issues have been repeatedly raised by NRI representatives at the annual diaspora conclave — the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas. There is a widespread feeling, though, of alienation from these ‘representatives’ among the common NRIs, particularly the middle-income Indians in the Gulf . Even otherwise, nothing of consequence in terms of NRI welfare has ever emerged out of the Pravasi Divas. There is a feeling among the common NRIs that this is a gathering of the high and mighty whose aim is to hobnob with powerful politicians and bureaucrats to further their personal agenda. The Divas has also become a platform of Indian states to showcase their potential and attract NRI investment.One is, therefore, a tad sceptical about the utility of the proposed 9,800-square-metre Pravasai Bharatiya Kendra which is now being built at a cost of `8bn in the high-end diplomatic enclave of Chanakyapuri in New Delhi.The setting of such a centre was first announced by Atal Bihari Vajpayee when he inaugurated the second Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in New Delhi as Prime Minister of India. He had said that the responsibility of running the centre, recommended by a government-appointed committee, would be entrusted to an autonomous body.According to Vayalar Ravi, the facility will be a “major centre of activity” for overseas Indians. The centre will have an Indian cultural centre, auditorium, permanent exhibition space, library, guest rooms and a business centre.The construction is expected to be completed by April next year.While building the facility, the MOIA should also draw up a plan or an agenda of activities and depute adequate staff to keep it going. More often than not, one has seen such facilities remain hollow monuments to populist assurances owing to bureaucratic lethargy.To make this centre meaningful, the ministry must right now start involving various overseas Indians groups in its functioning. It is heartening to know, for example, that the building will have a research centre on Indian diaspora studies.It may be mentioned that the ministry has already established a research unit at the reputed Centre for Development Studies (CDS) in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. A memorandum of understanding between the MOIA and the CDS for establishing a specialised research unit on international migration was signed in June 2006. The unit was given a five-year time frame with a provision for extending the agreement by five years if both parties agreed.It was the result of a proposal submitted by CDS to the ministry. According to details available on the CDS website, so far this unit has prepared a recruitment study, a background document for a national migration policy, a Goa migration study, a Kerala migration survey, some books and working papers on migration and some training manuals.As per the MoU, the total cost of establishing and running the Research Unit for five years was estimated at a little less than `22m, out of which the ministry would provide financial assistance of around Rs15m with CDS meeting the remaining expense.Late last year, CDS teamed up with the Indian government to launch a pilot project on the working and living conditions of Indians in the Gulf region. The CDS study, according to a ministerial communication, would go a long way in formulating policy measures for workers, including a policy of rehabilitation for Gulf returnees.The Reserve Bank of India and the Planning Commission have also instituted endowment units for research in selected areas at CDS.One hopes that the new centre would now take over such meaningful activities in a full-fledged manner and that the Indian government provides it with enough facilities and manpower.
At long last, some progress is visible on the Overseas Indians Centre (Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra) with the Minister of Overseas Indians Affairs, Vayalar Ravi, laying its foundation stone last week.Over the past few years, Ravi’s ministry has made some efforts to increase its level of engagement with the diaspora. While there are a plethora of issues concerning non-resident Indians, one can say that most of those within the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Overseas Indians Affairs (MOIA) have been addressed if not completely solved.
Issues that require inter-ministerial or inter-institutional handling are the ones still on the back burner. For instance, the issue of allowing voting through postal ballot or at embassies is pending clearance from the election commission and the law ministry. Similarly, other bodies are involved in matters like fast track courts, special police cells, admission quotas, air fares, airport charges, etc.Many of these issues have been repeatedly raised by NRI representatives at the annual diaspora conclave — the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas. There is a widespread feeling, though, of alienation from these ‘representatives’ among the common NRIs, particularly the middle-income Indians in the Gulf . Even otherwise, nothing of consequence in terms of NRI welfare has ever emerged out of the Pravasi Divas. There is a feeling among the common NRIs that this is a gathering of the high and mighty whose aim is to hobnob with powerful politicians and bureaucrats to further their personal agenda. The Divas has also become a platform of Indian states to showcase their potential and attract NRI investment.One is, therefore, a tad sceptical about the utility of the proposed 9,800-square-metre Pravasai Bharatiya Kendra which is now being built at a cost of `8bn in the high-end diplomatic enclave of Chanakyapuri in New Delhi.The setting of such a centre was first announced by Atal Bihari Vajpayee when he inaugurated the second Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in New Delhi as Prime Minister of India. He had said that the responsibility of running the centre, recommended by a government-appointed committee, would be entrusted to an autonomous body.According to Vayalar Ravi, the facility will be a “major centre of activity” for overseas Indians. The centre will have an Indian cultural centre, auditorium, permanent exhibition space, library, guest rooms and a business centre.The construction is expected to be completed by April next year.While building the facility, the MOIA should also draw up a plan or an agenda of activities and depute adequate staff to keep it going. More often than not, one has seen such facilities remain hollow monuments to populist assurances owing to bureaucratic lethargy.To make this centre meaningful, the ministry must right now start involving various overseas Indians groups in its functioning. It is heartening to know, for example, that the building will have a research centre on Indian diaspora studies.It may be mentioned that the ministry has already established a research unit at the reputed Centre for Development Studies (CDS) in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. A memorandum of understanding between the MOIA and the CDS for establishing a specialised research unit on international migration was signed in June 2006. The unit was given a five-year time frame with a provision for extending the agreement by five years if both parties agreed.It was the result of a proposal submitted by CDS to the ministry. According to details available on the CDS website, so far this unit has prepared a recruitment study, a background document for a national migration policy, a Goa migration study, a Kerala migration survey, some books and working papers on migration and some training manuals.As per the MoU, the total cost of establishing and running the Research Unit for five years was estimated at a little less than `22m, out of which the ministry would provide financial assistance of around Rs15m with CDS meeting the remaining expense.Late last year, CDS teamed up with the Indian government to launch a pilot project on the working and living conditions of Indians in the Gulf region. The CDS study, according to a ministerial communication, would go a long way in formulating policy measures for workers, including a policy of rehabilitation for Gulf returnees.The Reserve Bank of India and the Planning Commission have also instituted endowment units for research in selected areas at CDS.One hopes that the new centre would now take over such meaningful activities in a full-fledged manner and that the Indian government provides it with enough facilities and manpower.
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