“The NRI community is feeling let down by the government’s decision… A separate ministry for overseas Indians is a must to address their concerns,”.
Dubai: The Indian Cultural Society, NRI wing of Social Democratic Party of India in its Media release said, the BJP government’s decision to merge the Overseas Indian Affairs Ministry with the External Affairs Ministry an “Insult to the whole NRI community” voicing its objection to the move.
It asked through media the Centre to withdraw the “abrupt” decision. “The NRI community is feeling let down by the government’s decision… A separate ministry for overseas Indians is a must to address their concerns.”
“We are really shocked to hear the news about the abrupt decision to merge the Overseas Indian Affairs Ministry with the External Affairs Ministry without any consultation or proper analysis. We cannot ignore the contribution of Non Resident Indians in India’s development and in spreading Indian culture and heritage.
It also highlighted “The cancelling of Pravasi Barathiya Divas (PBD) has certainly come as a big surprise to all of us. The date January 9 has a lot of sanctity attached to it because it marks the anniversary of the return of Mahatma Gandhi to India from South Africa. Considering that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s links with Indians overseas are very strong and he has had huge events for the Indian community in various countries that he visited, the sudden scrapping of PBD comes as a shock.
“The cancellation of the PBD in 2016 for the first time after so many years is a big disappointment. The Indian Cultural Society, UAE President, Aliar S Nasir Nandavara, Naushad Thirunavyam, Ashir Chokkabettu spoke on this occasion.