New
university for NRIs
Kuala Lumpur, December 13 , 2005
IANS
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gave the many ‘Little
Indias’ the world over a pleasant surprise when
he announced on Tuesday that his government will set
up an exclusive university for People of Indian Origin
(PIO).
The two-million strong Indian community in Malaysia
the largest concentration of people of Indian origin
living outside the Indian subcontinent cheered the
Prime Minister’s decision, who is in Kuala Lumpur
to attend the annual ASEAN-India summit and Singh
said an announcement to this effect is likely to be
made during the January 7-9 Indian Diaspora conclave
at Hyderabad. Addressing members of the Indian community
in Malaysia, the Prime Minister said, “Our government
is considering several proposals to increase the number
of seats available to persons of Indian origin in
educational institutions of India.” “The
idea of establishing an exclusive PIO university is
also being considered.
The feedback from the PIO community the world over
on this initiative has been extremely encouraging,”
he said. “The Little Indias which we see in so
many towns in Malaysia are more than geographical
spaces.
They are repositories of the sentiment that links
people of Indian origin to the motherland," he
said. Singh said the large migration of Indians to
Malaysia during the colonial era provided the bedrock
linking the countries, while the recent second wave
of migration of skilled professionals there are over
45,000 Indian professionals working in Malaysia providing
the economic impetus for the evolution of ties.
"Your presence in Malaysia will make it easier
for us to rapidly upgrade our economic relations to
a new level," he told the community that comprises
doctors, teachers, software professionals, civil servants
and plantation workers. The PM also praised the presence
at the meeting of senior Malaysian minister S Samy
Velu, who is also the president of the Malaysian Indian
Congress, the largest political party representing
the interests of ethnic Indians in the country.
