HYDERABAD, India, 7 January 2006 — The Indian government has mooted a remittance gateway to facilitate electronic transfer of money by the NRIs to their home country, according to federal Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Oscar Fernandes.
At a media conference organized here yesterday on the eve of the three-day 4th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas-2006 convention which will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today, Fernandes said, “India gets the highest remittances sent from abroad by the overseas workers. These remittances are much higher than what neighboring China gets from its foreign resident nationals. We are thinking of doing something in return for the NRIs. A remittance gateway will be set up for the Indian diaspora, It will facilitate them to send their remittances through electronic means or banking channels.”
Terming it a very positive action for the NRIs, he said that the modalities for this gateway would be discussed and announced at the Plenary II session on “Remittance services” where federal Finance Minister P. Chidambaram will be the chief guest. UTI Bank Chairman Dr. P.J. Nayak will make a presentation on the issue.
Giving the highlights of the PBD-2006, Fernandes said that it would focus on establishing an institutional framework for sustainable engagement with overseas Indians. This framework would pull in overseas Indians as knowledge partners, the states of India as stakeholder partners and the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs as a facilitator.
The three-day convention is being held in Hyderabad from Jan. 7 to 9. The convention will culminate in the conferment of the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman by the president of India to distinguished overseas Indians.
Krishna Kumar, secretary, Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, said that the thrust of the PBD would be to generate good will about India among the NRIs and overseas Indians. Attracting global Indians to India would be the theme of PBD-2006. “Coming together to work together would be our motto. We see each other as partners, as people who could support each other,” he added.
“We will be the third largest economy in the world by 2030. Big ticket investment is already coming to India. How can the overseas Indians partner with us in achieving this and even making this happen by 2025? This is the strategic dimension of the relationship of Pravasis and the Indian government,” he said.
Krishna Kumar further stated that “the Indian diaspora does not consist of merely wealthy professionals or millionaires. About four to five million Indian workers are employed abroad, mostly in the Gulf countries. The foreign remittances sent by them to India are a whopping $21.7 billion a year. There will be a parallel session on ‘Indians in the Gulf’. Many Indian women are among those engaged in domestic work abroad. Work place abuses are rampant. That’s why we have a session on ‘Gender issues of the Diaspora’ also.”
He said that, in all, during the meet there would be nine plenary sessions, six parallel sessions, three panel discussions, two round table discussions and an interactive session with states.
Chief ministers of 12 states — Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal — are expected to participate in this interactive session to be chaired by Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.
