North American Punjabi Association (NAPA) establishes chapter in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, Dec 11, 2011
NRIpress.com Reporter
North American Punjabi Association (NAPA), a Non Profit,non-partisan, non-sectarian organization, located at 618 E. Colorado Blvd Pasadena, CA 91101, has chapters in several cities including Punjab State, conducted a public meeting on Sunday, December 11, 2011 at Sitar Indian Cusine, Pasadena, California and established a new Chapter in Los Angeles.
With the primary objective of strengthening their ties with the people and culture of their Motherland, the organization is monitoring and addressing current critical issues of concern and to sort out their grievances, especially concerning lands.
Shri S.K.Sharma (I.P.S), Additional Director General, Punjab Police was a chief guest who shared issues, concerns and problems of the Punjabi Community with Punjab Police, Punjab Government, and Indian Embassy.
Mr. Sharma said:
- NRI Police Stations have been established and functioning in six districts: Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Nawanshahr, Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana, and Moga. We keep close liaison with these Police Stations.
- Punjab government has set up a web site and hot line for NRIs'inquiries.
- Mr. Sharma assured help in addressing the important demands of NRIs at the government level
- The government will continue to take more steps to protect NRIs' properties.
Satnam Singh Chahal and Dalwinder Singh Dhoot expressed their appreciation and satisfaction to the response and decision of the Punjab government to set up a website and hot line for NRIs' inquiries.
In the February 2011 meeting with the Chief Minister of Punjab Parkash Singh Badal: NAPA Chairman Dalwinder Singh Dhoot and NAPA President Satnam Singh Chahal, along with their delegation met the Chief Minister of Punjab and other leaders and brought their attention to the problems faced by the NRI Punjabi community.
Punjab government has established a special Commission with judicial powers to deal with the problems faced by the NRI Punjabi community. The Commission will eliminate inordinate delays in providing prompt justice in long pending civil and judicial cases.
In the October 2011 meeting with the Governor of California Jerry Brown: NAPA
Chairman Dalwinder Singh Dhoot and NAPA President Satnam Singh Chahal along with some NRI leaders including Inder Dosanjh, Charanjit Singh Batth, Kulwant Singh Nijjer, Santokh Singh Judge, Inderjit Singh Birring, Sukhi Chahal, Sandeep Singh Chahal and Rama Singh of Fremont had an hour-long meeting with the Governor of California Jerry Brown about hate crimes including shooting of two elderly Sikh men Surinder Singh and Gurmej Atwal in Elk Grove, California on March 6 this year and the murder of two Kalsi brothers – Ravinder and Paramjit Kalsi in Richmond, California on December 27, 2007.
The "smiling soul of India," Punjab, is famous for its hard working, energetic, enthusiastic, and adventurous people. It is a highly fertile land endowed with five rivers and yellow fields. Punjab is a land of numerous opportunities, which are embedded in its advantageous position.
Punjabi NRIs have played a pivotal role in various development activities in Punjab and in shaping the economy of the State. There are over 750 thousand Punjabi NRIs living in United States, and it is estimated that 250 thousand are eligible voters.
The Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal made a PowerPoint presentation aimed at attracting investments. Sanjay Sharma, TNN on January 19, 2011 reported:
- At the annual Gujarat Convention for NRIs this year, the Gujaratis invested $450 billion
- At the Jalandhar Convention, Punjab did not attract even a penny worth of investment
Ruby Dhalla, Canadian ex-MP, on her trip to India in January 2011 said:
- There is no sense of security in Punjab and NRIs are scared to invest here. Even the ratio of fraudulent cases is enough to keep NRIs away from investment
NRI Surinder Singh, a real estate investor said:
NRI Punjabis will have a good feeling for investment when bureaucrats, such as S.K.Sharma (I.P.S), Additional Director General, Punjab Police approach NRIs with requests for investment and become directly involve in their security issues in Punjab
