State NRI Forum seeks Rs 10 crore for community welfare – Dr Arathi Krishna
Udupi: The state NRI Forum urged the government to set aside a budget of Rs 10 crore for providing innovative services to the NRI community and to look after their welfare said Dr Arathi Krishna, deputy chairperson of the forum.
She was speaking at a press meet held at the DC office on Monday, March 13. The state government had released the NRI Policy in January. The forum constituted in 2008, has only been addressing grievances of the Non-resident Indian (NRI) community. Without a separate budget, the forum has not been able to implement several ideas, as a result of which, it proposed the drafting of a policy, she said.
She further said that, after appointing her as the deputy chairperson of the forum, her focus has been to attract NRIs, Non-resident Kannadigas (NRKs) and Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) to invest in Karnataka in various development areas, especially the social and education sectors. One of the key exercises to be taken up would be the creation of a database of NRK students and professionals living in various countries. She said that according to a rough estimate, there are around four lakh NRKs, with a large number of them living in the United Arab Emirates, United States of America, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar.
The forum also proposes to create ID cards for NRKs, to ensure that they are not fleeced by hotels, during their visit to Karnataka. With the ‘Namma Ooru, Namma Naadu’ concept, the forum plans to encourage NRIs, NRKs and PIOs to adopt villages, temples and schools in the state.
Arathi said that her earlier experience in the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs in New Delhi, and as community development officer in the Indian Embassy in Washington, would help her reach out to the NRI and PIO communities across the world. She said that about 25 million people of Indian descent live on foreign soil.
The forum is planning to issue NRK cards to provide them a unique identity. The card will be linked to leading banks and corporate houses which will provide special value privilege to NRKs. The card will also help them get speedy services from various government departments, she added.
Priyanka Mary Francis, deputy commissioner Udupi and Shilpa Naag Assistant commissioner Kundapur were also present.
