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 "The diaspora wants to be a part of India’s progress"
INDIA EMPIRE Editor Sayantan Chakravarty caught up with GOPIO International President Inder Singh at a diaspora conference in Chandigarh for his views on the PBD and other issues related to overseas Indians. Excerpts from the interview: |
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What have been the gains from the GOPIO meeting held in conjunction with PBD 2008?
We brought up certain issues, and the objective of bringing them to the fore was to sensitize and bring awareness to the problems existing in India over a long period in time for overseas Indians. For example in the real estate session we focused on the housing problem. While there is a lot of interest among NRIs for investing in housing, buying a house and keeping it unoccupied creates a housing shortage which then turns itself into a social problem. On the other hand if they rent out the premises, NRIs are often deprived of the property as it gets encroached or occupied by people who are difficult to move out.
What is the agenda for GOPIO in the coming months?
In the radar is a conference in London sometime in July / August for promoting business and entrepreneurial opportunities in India. We tried a similar one out in the Caribbean last year, but it did not give us the desired results.
Your meeting at the GOPIO banquet was a huge success… global leaders connected with each other at the banquet venue…
Yes the meeting was very successful. It helped us spread the word about our activities worldwide. There was plenty of involvement of people from both India and outside. The media has been helping us a lot, especially those like INDIA EMPIRE focused on overseas Indians. We need to do more good for the NRI community, and represent and lobby harder for overseas Indians. We would also like to recognize more overseas Indians, and increase the numbers of awards for community and philanthropic services.
What is your impression of the PBD 2008?
We appreciate having the PBD over 2 days than the earlier practice of having it over three days. This is an important forum. We, the members of the Indian diaspora, want to be part of India’s progress, we want to contribute to India. We would like to see more emphasis on the diaspora youth, as this is the segment that will carry our aspirations forward.
Do you think there is a need to rethink the dates to get in more numbers?
If the PBD is held in the last week of December, it would be a more practical approach.
You have captained GOPIO for many years. Do see a merger happening with the other side in the near future?
All our doors are open to dialogue, and we want to talk.
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June 2008
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