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Right Place, Right Time
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 K Mohandas took over as Secretary in the Ministry of Overseas Indian
Affairs in February. A 1974 batch IAS officer, he is, to use a cliché, in the right place, at the right time. India has announced the setting up of a PIO University to meet the aspirations of the young Overseas Indians, and Mohandas' background as Principal Secretary (Higher Education, Kerala Government) would no doubt come in handy. While he was at that job, for the first time Kerala opened up its education sector to private entrepreneurship, and several NRI sponsored institutions were set up in the southern state. No doubt, overseeing the implementation and management of the PIO University now would require bringing in all those earlier skills into play.
The Higher Education portfolio went hand in hand with the portfolio of Principal Secretary (Industries). He also did a stint as managing director of the Kerala State Financial Corporation. That was in the mid to late 1990s, when the investment climate in Kerala was being made more attractive following the enactment of the Industrial Single Window Act. The idea then was to facilitate reforms in a state where the spurt of industrialization had yet to come. Mohandas oversaw the setting up of many industrial parks in Kerala that included ones with themes such as food, film and video, IT, and rubber.
It is precisely this kind of background that will hold the new MOIA secretary in good stead. He takes over at a time when the new Overseas Indian Facilitation Centre has been created as a public private initiative between the MOIA and the Confederation of Indian Industry. Mohandas as secretary, MOIA is the chairman of the OIFC (CII's chief mentor Tarun Das is the co-chairman), and has his task cut out. It is a body mandated to facilitate overseas Indians to invest in India, as part of India's policy to create a climate of hassle-free investments in the country for global investors.
In an environment where the expectations of Overseas Indians have been fuelled by six successive editions of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (2003 - 2008), the MOIA has much to promise, and deliver.
We bring excerpts from an interview with INDIA EMPIRE
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| Emigration for employment has to be made hassle-free, and a safe exercise. Things like what happened in the United States ought not to happen. The emigration system needs to be reformed |
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 On his priorities …
Emigration for employment has to be made hassle-free, and a safe exercise. Things like what happened in the United States (when Indians workers were victimized in Mississippi) ought not to happen. The emigration system needs to be reformed. We can bring in total professionalism into this area. Those who recruit need to be much more accountable. Awareness campaigns by the MOIA have been initiated, and we do have a role. The message we'd like to give out is that while good recruiters can function efficiently, emigration enforcement will be strong.
On the OIFC…
I am glad that I am in this Ministry at this point. It is the right time to take things at the OIFC forward. My close exposure with the Industries department in Kerala will no doubt prove useful. We are also looking at increased investment of the Indian diaspora from the Gulf region.
On improving day-to-day communications with the Indian diaspora…
There will be an improvement in our communications with the diaspora.
E-governance will be maximized. Issues raised by the diaspora will be acknowledged. We remain, however, dependent on various state agencies to respond to specific queries made by the Indian diaspora, and do all that we can to expedite their responses.
On a new resource centre…
We are working on that, and soon we will be able to build on our networks.
—Sayantan Chakravarty
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April 2008
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