Abu Dhabi Non Resident Goans meet H.E. Mr. Eduardo Faleiro Commissioner for NRI Affairs-Government of Goa and delegation

By Team Mangalorean, UAE

Abu Dhabi, December 9, 2007: Abu Dhabi's Goan community has made an urgent appeal to introduce direct flight from Abu Dhabi to Goa, on behalf of the Goans living here in UAE. The memorandum was submitted to the delegation during the programme hosted by the Goan community to address the problems faced by Goans residing in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E to the Commissioner of Goan NRI and delegation, at the Foodlands Restaurant Main Hall  in Abu Dhabi, on December 9, 2007 from  7.00 pm onwards.  H.E. Mr. Eduardo Faleiro, Honorable Commissioner for NRI Affairs-Government of Goa was the chief guest of this event. 

Mr. Ram Mavlinkar, Managing Director of City Computers welcomed the Chief Guest H.E. Mr. Eduardo Faleiro, and the delegation including Mr. U.D Kamath (Director of NRI Affairs in Goa), Mr. Srinivas Babu (First Secretary of Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi), Mr. Sarvojith Singh (Second Secretary of Indian Embassy), Vice Admiral (Retd) John C D'Silva, Chairman, Overseas Employment Agency of Goa and guests, community members and the entire gathering who had come to witness this event.

H.E. Mr. Faleiro addressed the community members, and requested everyone to exercise precaution while taking up jobs abroad especially through the recruiting agents. A lot many unscrupulous agents try to make money by giving false promises and hence people need to be intelligent and wise enough to check whether the job offer is genuine or not,   he said. 
Mr. Ram Mavlinkar and Mr. Ratikant Mandrekar presented a memorandum with following demands to H.E. Mr. Faleiro on behalf of Abu Dhabi Non Resident Goans. 
 
1. Direct flight to Goa.
2. Single window creation for NRG's grievances/problems.
3. Reservation of seats in Professional   Colleges of Goa.
4. Gratuity Scheme/Insurance scheme for Non Resident Goans
5. Immigration Clearance in Goa.
6. Allocation of Land to NR Goans for Colony/City/Investment Opportunities. 
 
H.E. Mr.  Faleiro said that he would look into all these aspects and consider implementation of  direct flights to Goa as a No. 1 priority by  co-ordinating  with all the concerned officials and try to introduce at least one direct weekend flight, starting from Abu Dhabi-Dubai and then directly to Goa.  This needs to be done after careful consideration of the passenger load which would be the prime concern of any airline he said.  

Philips Electronics, Novotel Hotel Abu Dhabi  and  Gray Mackenzie were the sponsors of this event.   The community members had to fill in their names and other details and drop it in a box placed at the entrance of the venue.     A lucky draw was conducted and 6 prizes were given away to the winners whose names were picked out of the box. The prizes were handed over to the winners by the respective sponsors/representatives.

Mr. Ram Mavlinkar was the main co-ordinator and Mr.  Ratikant Mandrekar was the moderator of this programme.   They were assisted by  Mr. Rashid Sheikh, Mr. B J Silveira,  Mr. Thomas Fernandes,   Mr. Gabriel Fernandes,  Mr. Peter D'Viega and Mr.Savio Cardozo who were the convenors of this programme. 

DJ Rudy the renowned DJ in Abu Dhabi played some good selection of Goan numbers and Mr. Greg Fernandes sang some Goan songs and entertained the gathering.  Miss Urba Mandrekar compered the event with total confidence and poise.   Mr. Peter D'Viega conveyed the vote of thanks and the event concluded at 10.00 pm sharp.

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