The Hindu : Front Page : Diaspora told to help nation keep its tryst with destiny

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Thursday, Jan 10, 2008
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Diaspora told to help nation keep its tryst with destiny

Special Correspondent

The 25-million community is a key economic, social and cultural force in the world: Pratibha Patil

Make use of Overseas Citizenship of India scheme: President
Award presented to Mauritius Prime Minister

NEW DELHI: President Pratibha Patil on Wednesday urged the overseas Indian community to join the country in its effort to keep its ‘tryst with destiny.’

Making out a case for the diaspora to engage proactively in contributing to national growth, she said the 25-million-strong community spread across 130 countries was a “significant economic, social and cultural force” in the world.

Addressing the valedictory of the two-day Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) meeting here, the President said overseas Indians must make use of the Overseas Citizenship of India scheme which provided them a lifetime free visa to India and allowed them to live and work in the country at will.

Referring to the proposed India Development Foundation, Ms. Patil said it would provide the diaspora a credible window to contribute to social development causes, including empowerment of women and rural development.

Dwelling on the challenges facing the country as it sought to ensure inclusive growth, the First Citizen said overseas Indians should engage themselves in the national endeavour to provide health and education to all while investing in infrastructure projects.

At the function, the President gave away the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards. Among the awardees was Mauritius Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam, a person of Indian origin who was the chief guest at this year’s edition of PBD.

Cautious on SEZs

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the government was treading cautiously on the issue of Special Economic Zones so that the legitimate rights and demands of people were not neglected as India tried to build on its industrial and manufacturing strengths.

“Sustainable economic growth is more than a buzz-word” and was the reality on which “our society” should be built.

He was addressing the PBD plenary session on ‘Developmental Challenges of the States: Partnership Opportunities’.

Stating that the challenge was to balance the rights and needs of the populace with the growing demands of industrialisation, Mr. Mukherjee conceded that SEZs had become a sensitive issue.

However, he was confident that the States would work out their own policies towards relief and rehabilitation and offer suitable compensation to the people the SEZs impacted on.

Referring to the spiralling oil prices, he said the India-U.S. civil nuclear energy cooperation was aimed at addressing energy security.

The government was making “all possible efforts to build our energy stocks, explore alternative avenues of energy, research and produce renewable sources of energy and leverage multilateral and bilateral frameworks to secure energy supplies over the long term.”

In the first interface between overseas Indians and State governments at this PBD, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit sought suggestions for saving the Yamuna. She promoted the capital as the centre of the biggest economic hub of the country along with Gurgaon, Faridabad and Noida.

Describing Gujarat as India’s growth engine, Chief Minister Narendra Modi offered his State as a venue for the proposed PIO (persons of Indian origin) University.

Three other Chief Ministers — Bhupinder Singh Hooda of Haryana, V.S. Achuthanandan of Kerala and Madhu Koda of Jharkhand — also dwelt on the investment potential in their States.

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