RIYADH, 29 March 2007 — The Indian government has decided to waive payment of the death registration fee in the case of nonresident Indians who die due to natural or unnatural cause in the Kingdom and other Gulf states. This was disclosed by Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed who also announced that Air-India’s low-cost carrier, Air-India Express, has proposed extending its Bahrain-Cochin service to Dammam to serve passengers from the Eastern Province.
He was inaugurating a new block of Malaz Al-Huda International School here on Tuesday night. The school, which is approved by the CBSE, follows a child-centered approach combining Islamic and modern education in its curriculum. Rajeev Shahare, minister at the Indian Embassy, T.P. Mohammed, manager of the school, and a large gathering of Indian expatriates, including Indian Embassy officials, were present.
The Indian minister has arrived here in connection with the two-day 19th Arab summit, which concludes today. Earlier, he paid tributes to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah for his initiative in convening the summit. He said India has always been a staunch supporter of the Arab cause and would go along with any decision taken by the Arab League. India is participating in the summit as an observer.
Referring to the waiver of the death registration fee, Ahamed said the Ministry of External Affairs has already approved the proposal and a gazette notification was expected within two weeks. The minister’s announcement was widely cheered by the gathering as three Indians die in the Kingdom every day due to natural or unnatural causes, such as road accidents, industrial accidents and suicide, in some cases.
The death registration fee currently is SR200 for natural death and SR240 in the case of unnatural death. The charge has to be paid by the Saudi sponsor under the Kingdom’s rules and regulations.
The minister also announced that the government has decided to go ahead with the proposal to set up Pravasi Bharatiya University in one of India’s Special Economic Zones for the benefit of children of the NRIs. However, the site of the proposed university, which will function under the umbrella of the University Grants Commission, has not yet been decided.
Ahamed added, amid cheers from the audience, that NRI Minister Vayalar Ravi and himself were in favor of locating the university in Kerala, since a majority of the NRIs in the Kingdom hail from the south Indian state. He said that there was another proposal for establishing a SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) university in the region. While India was being favored as a venue for the proposed university, a final decision is still pending in terms of its location.
Another proposal on the table relates to that of local recruitment for India’s diplomatic missions. Ahamed said the move has assumed a new dimension, since India has its diplomatic missions in 160 countries around the world. With the existing manpower resources stretched to the hilt, the finance ministry is examining a proposal that would allow its diplomatic missions abroad to hire employees locally for certain slots.
