|
Year End Review 2004
The Year End - 2004 marks a lot of excitement and activity in the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs as the Ministry positions itself to play an active role as a facilitator for all the proposals and problems of the Overseas Indian community comprising the Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) and Non-Resident Indians (NRI), in the wake of the finalization of its work allocation and issue of the concerned notification in the closing month of the year.
The Ministry has been allocated a wide gamut of subjects concerning the Overseas Indians. These include - promotion of investment by overseas Indians in India; all emigration under the Emigration Act 1983; setting up and administration of centres for Overseas Indian’s Affairs in countries having major concentration of overseas Indians; policy regarding employment assistance to PIO/NRIs; scholarships to NRI/PIO students for study in India; external publicity relating to Overseas Indians Affairs; collection and dissemination of information concerning admission of NRI/PIO students to various educational, technical and cultural institutions, etc. The mandate also includes establishment of institutions to impart vocational and technical training to meet the requirements of skilled manpower abroad with the concurrence of the Ministry of Labour and Employment. Besides, the Ministry has also been entrusted with the task of taking up New initiatives for interaction by Overseas Indians with India in the fields such as Trade, Culture, Tourism, Media, Youth affairs, Health, Education, Science and Technology in consultation with concerned Ministries.
Apart from equipping itself to meet the challenges and new opportunities as enshrined under the mandate given to it the M/o Overseas Indian Affairs is also busy in giving the final shape to the arrangements for the `Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas’ scheduled to be organized in Mumbai from January7 to 9, 2005. Every effort is being made to make the three-day conference very focused and business-like, without losing out opportunities for networking, promotion of cultural activities and tourism. A larger number of delegates have already registered and the tempo is expected to build up in the coming days.
In this context, it may be mentioned that the Minister, Shri Jagdish Tytler and senior officers of the Ministry have been making untiring efforts and have also undertaken tours abroad to interact with the Overseas Indian Community and reflect their concerns and proposals on the Vision and objectives of the Ministry. The response from the Overseas Indian community everywhere has been overwhelming. Great expectations have been raised on the initiative of the new Government to set up an independent Ministry for their affairs.
The Ministry is also taking steps to give effect to initiatives such as dual-citizenship, insurance for workers and redressal of failed NRI marriages.
|
