NRI Punjabis keen for state's welfare

Mumbai, Jan 17, 2005

For the nearly 2.5 million Indians settled abroad, it was a glorious moment when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced dual citizenship for them along with an open invitation to invest at home.

TheThird Pravasi Bhartiya Divas, which concluded last week was an added attraction with the participation of the NRI Punjabis, keen to contribute wholeheartedly for the welfare of the state.

Punjab chief minister, Captain Amarinder Singh, while interacting with the NRI Punjabis, urged them to invest in the state, as soon as the Single Window Act for NRI investment came into being.

Calling Punjab as the land of opportunities, the chief minister invited them to invest in sectors like education, health and rural development.

"We have got a very large number of people living abroad. I gave a figure of Nawasahar, where we estimated 43 per cent of the people living abroad. Not all 100 per cent but some people are living abroad, while some are here. We knew all this, that is why we have taken special care to ensure that their welfare is maintained and on the other hand welcome them back so that they invest in the state," said Singh.

Since for majority of the NRIs, re-building their ancestral houses and securing their agriculture land is the sole interest, the Punjab government has amended the East Punjab Rent Restriction Act 1949 and Punjab Security of Land Tenures Act to secure quick judicial redressal of the problems of NRIs.

These amendments will enable NRIs to take possession of their residential, commercial and agricultural properties.

Vikramjeet Singh Bajwa, vice president of the Indian national overseas congress said, "The real estate market around the world has been on the high graph. The return here is about 30 per cent on your investments. The real estate market is number one priority. We discussed here about residential townships. Minister Tytler has opened new areas saying that we welcome investments in the new cities. By saying that there is a city like Ludhiana, Jallandhar or Amritsar, what we would like to do is make a parallel city, next to Ludhiana, next to Jallandhar and next to Amritsar. That will be number one priority."

"It is really important and I welcome what the Chief Minister said, that they are going to speed up processes for NRIs so that legal disputes can be sorted quickly, because people can,t keep coming back across thousands of miles here to participate in the legal system which works very slowly. I think now we have PIO cards, dual nationality, it will give great encouragement to NRIs to invest in India and in Punjab, and make sure that they could also bring other skills, other than investment in terms of money, said Nina Gill, a delegate from Belgium.

The priority of every state is primary education and health.

Punjab where the drop out rate in public schools is still 91 per cent, the government has initiated more NRI investment in the education sector, especially in rural areas. The rural health system is in need of more foreign medical aid and expertise. An invitation to doctors of Indian origin is most certainly a basic and essential requirement.

Jasbir J Multani, a delegate from United States said, "We want to actually help the physician community, the patient community by sharing what we have learnt about various diseases. And my speciality being in surgery that's what I want to do. While talking to the CM, he kindly agreed to look into the facility which has sports medicine and spine injury with the big emphasis on rehabilitation".

Being very close to their roots, a mutual understanding, and communication between the Punjab government and the million of Punjabi NRIs settled abroad is a win win situation for both.

It's all about bringing two hearts together for a bright future ahead. (ANI)

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