Kerala's Chief Minister Oommen Chandy (second left) and Overseas Affairs Minister K.C. Joseph (left) attending the Non-resident Indian Day event in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. K.T.A. Muneer (extreme right) is also seen. — Courtesy photo Hassan Cheruppa Saudi Gazette
JEDDAH – A number of delegates, who attended the recently concluded Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD –Non-resident Indian Day) from the Gulf, expressed their disappointment over the outcome of the three-day event. They said that the conference had almost sidelined the ordinary expatriates from the Gulf states and ignored their much-sought after demands. “We had a general impression that this year's PBD was being organized in a way garnering more attention and adding splendor to the ‘Vibrant Gujarat Summit', which was held on the same venue on the second day after PBD,” said K.T.A. Muneer, the lone delegate from Jeddah. The three-day jamboori, held at Mahatma Mandir, Gandhinagar, in the western Indian state of Gujarat from Jan. 7-9, was organized by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) in partnership with the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports and the state government of Gujarat. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the event, in which several dignitaries, including Donald R. Ramotar, president of Guyana, Sushma Swaraj, minister for external affairs and overseas Indian affairs, and Anandiben Patel, chief minister of Gujarat, spoke. The government has spent about 1.5 billion rupees for the jamboree, and an overwhelming majority of the 4,000 delegates represented the creamy layer and affluent NRIs. PBD is celebrated on January 9 every year to mark the contribution of Indian Diaspora in the country's development. January 9 was chosen as the day to celebrate this occasion since it was on this day in 1915 that Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation, returned to India from South Africa, to lead India's freedom struggle and to change the lives of Indians forever. Muneer, who is also president of the western region of the Overseas Indian Cultural Congress (OICC), an offshoot of Indian National Congress, said that it is unfortunate that this year's PBD, which marks the centenary of Gandhi's return to India, was organized in a way giving nothing to the comfort of the vast majority of the blue-collar Indians working in the Gulf states as well as to address their pressing problems. Addressing the chief ministers'conclave at the event, Oommen Chandy, chief minister of the southern state of Kerala, drew attention to this, saying, “The ordinary, common NRIs who constitute not less than 75 percent of the total NRI population are not represented here.” “These people remit on an average over Rs600 billion per year to our banks in Kerala which is three times of our annual plan budget. We have to stand united and should carry all sectors of society together for fulfilling our goals,” he said and proposed a separate one-day session for emigrant laborers to discuss their problems from PBD's next edition onwards. Chandy also aired concern about the travel woes of the Gulf-based NRIs who complain of exorbitant and unreasonable airfare charged by various airlines including the national carrier Air India. “Almost 80 percent of the Indians in the Gulf are low-paid workers finding it difficult to make both ends meet. During vacations, the airlines increase their fares five to 10 times, and exploitation of the poor workers must stop.” Referring to Saudi Arabia's Nitaqat initiatives, he said the global trends indicated further shrinkage in the job market for expatriates in the Gulf and it might force more workers to return for good. Muneer said that there was only one parallel session devoted to the Gulf expatriates and there were no serious discussions at the event to address the concerns of ordinary expatriates. "The OICC Global Committee delegation, led by its President Padma Shri C.K. Menon, presented a memorandum to V.K. Singh, India's minister of state for external affairs and overseas Indian affairs. In the memorandum, we demanded special rehabilitation programs for returning expatriates, setting up of facilities for higher education for children of expatriates, and appointing more officials at welfare sections of Indian diplomatic missions." Some delegates criticized that the entry to the jamboori was determined mainly by the depth of their pockets. Three of the most expensive hotels of Gandhinagar were listed for delegates. “We found that almost all major hotels were booked by the Gujarat government for the ‘Vibrant Gujarat Summit'. A delegate had to pay an average Rs10,000 per day for a hotel room in addition to registration fee ranging from Rs14,500 to Rs21,000, in addition to other expenses. All the three days, the delegates were served only with vegetarian meals,” Muneer added. The Riyadh-based social worker Shihab Kottukad, a recipient of the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award last year, was one among the few delegates attended the conference from the Kingdom. This year, Ashraf Parakunmummal, a UAE-based NRI social worker, was the lone recipient of the award from the Gulf region, and the remaining 14 recipients were the so called NRI VIPs from other parts of the world.
