The 8th edition of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, the flagship event of the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, has been differently structured this time around with a view to provide delegates with an opportunity to interact with:
(i) Cabinet Ministers from India on matters of interest and concern to them.
(ii) PIO Ministers / dignitaries from other countries on the expectations and aspirations of the overseas Indian community from the land of their ancestors and how they could work towards strengthening the relationship between India and the country of their residence.
(iii) Chief Ministers on issues their States need to attend on priority and facilities and incentives available in their states for the overseas Indian community.
The convention will have four concurrent sessions on Investment, Knowledge, Philanthropy and Gender Issues.
PBD Conventions traditionally provide a platform for exchange of views and networking to the Persons of Indian Origin settled all over the world on matters of common interest and concern to them. Such conventions have helped the Government of India to better understand and appreciate the expectations of the Overseas Indian community from the land of their ancestors and more importantly, acknowledge the important role played by them in India’s efforts to acquire its rightful place in the comity of nations, as also in their adopted countries, whether for diaspora or national development.
Among the decisions taken by the Government of India as a result of the wider consultations held at these Conventions are:
• Formulation of the Overseas Citizenship of India scheme.
• Establishment of Overseas Indian Facilitation Centre.
• Conceptualization of PIO/NRI University.
• Formation of Prime Minister’s Global Advisory Council of People of Indian Origin.
• Setting up of the India Development Foundation.
• Enabling professionals who are Overseas Citizens of India to practice in India.
• Launching of the Global Indian Network of Knowledge (Global-INK).
For the first time, the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas will be web-cast in an interactive mode on the MOIA website (www.moia.gov.in), as well as on the Ministry’s e-magazine Pravasi Bharatiya through the website (www.overseasindian.in). This will enable overseas Indians from across the world to not only witness the proceedings of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention, session-by-session, but also interact with the Ministry and express their opinion and views.
With a view to encourage and promote well-informed and high-quality debates and public discourses on matters of interest and concern to the vast overseas Indian community, estimated at 25 million, spread over 110 countries, a prestigious annual lecture-series is being launched in the backdrop at PBD 2010. The overarching theme of the lecture series would be ‘India and its Diaspora: Everlasting Bonds of Togetherness’. The first in this lecture series will be delivered by Professor Jagdish Bhagwati of Columbia University, an eminent Person of Indian Origin (PIO), on January 8 at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi.
The 8th PBD Convention will have three plenary sessions. In the first plenary session the delegates will have an opportunity to interact with some key Cabinet Ministers from India, who will expound on Government of India’s policies on subjects like economic recovery, good governance, technology & innovation and infrastructure development.
This session will seek to articulate the role that the diaspora can play in India’s race to join the league of developed world. The second plenary session would have a panel of PIO Ministers which will seek to explore how the diaspora could work towards strengthening the symbiotic relationship between India and the diaspora, as also India’s relations with the country of their residence. This session will deliberate on the issues of concern to overseas Indians residing in different regions. The third plenary session would have Chief Ministers from 14 States and one Deputy Chief Minister who will focus on the role the diaspora can play in ‘Skill Development’, an area of critical importance given forecasts that India is likely to be confronted with significant skill-gaps in a couple of decades if we do not act now.
On the cards is also a Golf Tournament, seminars on Nano-Technology and property-related issues of NRIs/PIOs. The high-profile convention will be inaugurated by the Prime Minister of India on January 8. President of India will deliver the valedictory address on January 9 and confer Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards for 2010.
THE INITIATIVES OF THE MOIA
OIFC Services
To expand the investment and entrepreneurial ties of the Global Indians with their home-country, Overseas Indian Facilitation Centre
(OIFC), a not-for-profit public private initiative between the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs
(MOIA) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), was rolled out on May 28, 2007.
Acting as a focal point for expanding the engagement of the Indian diaspora with India and promoting trade and investment into the country, OIFC has a three fold mandate:
• Create and run a dynamic platform for knowledge exchange
• Promote investments into the country, and
• Facilitate business to business partnerships
The overall objective of OIFC is to offer a well-engaged platform for the Indian Diaspora to connect with key stakeholders in India and drive them as successful cohorts in India’s development.
OIFC provides a whole host of services to the Indian Diaspora Community
Investment facilitation, Advisory and handholding
OIFC offers a wide range of consultative, advisory and handholding services to the Indian Diaspora for business and investment facilitation. Supported by its knowledge partners, the Centre operates in core verticals of education, financial services, healthcare, infrastructure, wealth management, information technology and sustainable development.
Customized
OIFC provides customized services, with focus on:
• Assisting states to project investment opportunities.
• Identifying and promoting sector and state specific investment projects for potential investors
• Creating and promoting direct investment commodities and instruments for the Indian
diaspora.
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The Global INK Vision
Prime Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh inaugurated the Global-INK initiative at the Seventh Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in
Chennai. The key objective of this initiative is to draw upon the eclectic knowledge base of the Indian Diaspora and unleash innovation across sectors and geographies in India through well designed projects and community action with targeted and measurable outcomes. It seeks to catalyze the capability of the Indian Diaspora into institutionalized programs for development and transformation. It is under the overall aegis of the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs
(MOIA).
The OIFC has partnered with Tata Consultancy Services
(TCS) to develop the Global-INK framework. An online web portal, it is powered by Support-Central, a next-generation knowledge management platform.
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Indian Council of Overseas Employment
(ICOE)
ICOE is a strategic Think Tank on matters related to overseas employment markets for Indians and overseas Indian workers
(OIWs). It functions under the MOIA.
In a rapidly globalizing world characterized by competition amongst the
labour-sending countries for optimizing benefits from international labour migration, there is a need to bring a strategic dimension to the process of emigration of Indians in search of employment. There is also a need to forge partnerships that will best serve India as a supplier of skilled and trained manpower and meet the expectations of the Overseas Indian Workers
(OIW) as a significant constituency across the world.
Towards these ends, in July 2008, the Indian Council for Overseas Employment
(ICOE) was registered under the Society Registration Act.
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The India Development Foundation of Overseas Indians
The Prime Minister while inaugurating the Sixth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas at New Delhi on January 8, 2008 announced the proposal to establish an autonomous not-for-profit trust titled the India Development Foundation.
Explaining its need and rationale, the Prime Minister said: “This Foundation will serve as a credible institutional mechanism to direct overseas Indian philanthropic propensities into human development efforts in India. The Foundation will assist overseas Indians to contribute to the cause of education, health and rural development in their erstwhile home villages, districts or states. It will also partner with credible NGOs and philanthropic organisations actively engaged in social development, thus providing a strong public-private partnership bridge between overseas Indians and their target beneficiaries.”
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Know India Programme (KIP)
Earlier known as the Internship Programme for Diaspora Youth
(IPDY), the Know India Programme (KIP) is a three-week internship programme in India for the Diaspora Youth. The KIP is conducted by the MOIA with a view to promote awareness of India, its socio-cultural diversity, its all round development, its emergence as an economic powerhouse, the nation being a centre of higher education and the ongoing developments in various fields including infrastructure and information technology.
The participants are usually from countries with a large PIO population. They are selected based on recommendations by Indian Missions abroad. They are provided with full hospitality and are reimbursed 90 per cent of the international airfare by the most economical class travel to India from their countries.
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