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Diaspora: MOIA Initiatives

FOCUSING ON YOUTH: As part of his dynamic policy of bringing the diaspora youth closer to India, Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi interacts with members of the IPDY. Also seen is Joint Secretary Malay Mishra

INDIA AND DIASPORA

ABIDING TIES

In its own words, the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs tells us how it is committed to forging deeper bonds between the diaspora and India

The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) has signed a MOU with Indian Council for Cultural Relations to increase cultural interaction with the diaspora. This will include exchange of visits by Indian performing arts groups, exhibitions and resource persons from India, exchange of visits by diaspora scholars, academicians, opinion-makers, and writers to India and vice-versa along the lines of Indian Council of Cultural Relations’ Distinguished Visitor’s Programme, facilitation of the organization and participation in seminars and symposia concerning diaspora in India and abroad, cultural scholarships exclusively earmarked for children of Indian diaspora and setting up of Chairs in foreign universities in the field of diaspora studies, Indian History and culture. This will be particularly helpful to old diaspora nations such as Trinidad and Tobago.

The MOIA has signed another MOU with Doordarshan under which documentary films will be made on diaspora in different regions of the world including the Caribbean. The Ministry is currently processing the proposal of sending a DD team to T&T in November 2006 along with other countries in the Caribbean region. Doordarshan will also interview prominent overseas Indians. A number of overseas Indians in Trinidad are keen in tracing their roots in India. A cultural exhibition on the diaspora focusing on the indentured world including Trinidad and Tobago will be organized by Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts in collaboration with MOIA during Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2007 in New Delhi.

SIGNING UP: Secretary MOIA Nirmal Singh and Director General ICCR Pavan Varma sign a MoU related to diaspora

Another initiative of the Ministry is the Scholarship Scheme for Diaspora Children, which is basically aimed at making higher education opportunities in India accessible to the children of Overseas Indians. Through this scheme, it is hoped that the students selected for such scholarships would become brand ambassadors for India and its educational institutions. Under the proposed Scholarship Scheme, MOIA intends to provide 100 scholarships to about 100 Indian students each year starting from 2006-07. The annual outlay would be around Rs 1 crore to begin with and would go up to about Rs 4 crores in the fourth year and stabilize thereafter.

The eligibility criteria under the SSDC will be on merit basis. A general ability test will be conducted in countries with major concentration of the Indian diaspora for selecting students.

We also have a focus on the diaspora youth through an Internship Programme for Diapsora Youth (IPDY). The IPDY is an on-going programme of the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs that aims at associating closely the younger generation of the Indian Diaspora with India. It provides a unique forum for students and young professionals of Indian origin to share their views, expectations and experience and bond closely with contemporary India. This is a 3-4 week comprehensive orientation program organized by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs. The Ministry proposes to organize IPDY 3-4 times a year including the one with Pravasi Bharatiya Divas held every year around 9 January.

During the last 3 programmes of IPDY, states of Uttaranchal, Karnataka, A.P. and Himachal Pradesh had been closely associated as partner States and the participants were taken to these States for about 3 weeks. The last edition of IPDY was called the Know India Programme and was held with the logistical support of the Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan. The scheme is being further refined and a number of programmes and projects have been thought of by the Ministry based on feedback from the participants and stakeholder partners.

Indian Missions are requested to generate publicity and ensure proper selection of participants and follow up.

—Details of MOIA’s programmes are available on our websites
www.moia.gov.in and www.overseasindian.in

October 2006

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