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GENERAL
DIASPORA
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30 years of ARSP-towards the global Indian Family
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 BHARATVAASI (INDIAN citizens) and Bharatvanshee (People of Indian Origin-PIO) together constitute a formidable global Indian community which has excelled in diverse feilds,” said Lal Krishna Advani, former deputy prime minister and presently leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
He was speaking at the 30th anniversary celebrations of Antar Rashtriya Sahayog Parishad (Indian Council for International Cooperation) which was also the occasion to confer the 4th Bharatvanshi Gaurav Samman (Pride of PIOs award) on ‘Human Service Trust-an NGO based in Mauritius.
Recalling how hundreds of thousands of Indian indentured workers were forcibly migrated by British to far off countries under horrifying conditions, Advani said that the descendents of those indentured workers have accomplished remarkable achievements in social, political and economic fields. “It is a fact that a man’s potential is fully realised when he faces the challenges posed by displacement from his roots,” he said.
ARSP, founded in 1978 as a non political non profit organization, has been working ever since to promote India’s great cultural heritage, and create awareness in India about the achievements of PIOs as well as problems faced by them in their adopted countries.
Over the past three decades, ARSP has built a strong bridge connecting India with its diaspora abroad. It was instrumental in impressing upon the Vajpayee government to appoint a high level diaspora committee headed by Dr LM Singhvi, which eventually resulted in important milestones like granting ‘overseas citizenship’ to PIO’s; a separate ‘Ministry of Overseas Affairs’ and celebration of annual ‘Pravasi Bhartiya Divas’.
Bharatvanshi Gaurav Samman, comprising a citation and Rs 1 lakh, is awarded every year to a PIO/NRI social activist or an institution for outstanding contribution in the field of service to the society in India or abroad. The earlier awards were conferred on Ranjith Ramnarain of South Africa; Sat Narain Maharaj of Trinidad; and Thomas Abraham, chairman Gopio international USA.
JC Sharma, president Antar Rashtriya Sahayog Nyas and former secretary of HLC on the Indian diaspora said, “When India shines, the stock of Indian Diaspora rises and when the diaspora excels, it makes India proud.”
Prem Boojhawan (Munshijee), president of Human Service Trust, Mauritius said that he felt humbled by the award. He recalled his long association with ARSP and announced that the Trust has decided to donate the award money of Rupees one lac towards construction of Pravasi Bhavan project of ARSP.
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Distress fund for overseas indian workers
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 THE GOVERNMENT of India has set up a fund for the welfare of overseas Indian workers in distress in foreign countries. The fund has become operational at Indian missions in all the 17 Emigration Clearance Required (ECR) countries from January 1, 2009. The countries are United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Malaysia, Libya, Jordan, Yemen, Sudan, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Syria, Lebanon, Thailand, and Iraq. The Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF) has been established by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs.
The fund will provide the following services: boarding and lodging for distressed overseas Indians in household/ domestic sectors and unskilled labourers; expenditure on incidentals and for airlifting the mortal remains to India or local cremation/burial of the deceased overseas Indian in such cases where a sponsor is unable or unwilling to do so as per the contract and the family is unable to meet the cost; extending emergency medical care to the overseas Indians in need; providing air passage to stranded overseas Indians in need and providing initial legal assistance to the overseas Indians in deserving cases. The contingency expenditure incurred by the Indian missions abroad for carrying out these welfare activities will be met by MOIA.
The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs will provide the budgetary support for the fund. This will be in proportion to the size of the Indian workforce subject to a maximum of Rs 15 lakh each for Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain and Malaysia. For the remaining 10 ECR countries, an amount of Rs 5 lakh each will be granted. The MOIA contribution will be initially for three years or till the period the fund becomes self sustaining whichever is earlier. The other sources of funding of ICWF will be from funds raised by the Indian missions by levying a service charge on consular services and voluntary contribution by Indian community. The heads of missions are authorised to administer the fund. They may decide releasing financial assistance based on merits of each case received by them. Overseas Indian workers are estimated at over 5 million, with a net outflow of about a million each year excluding returnees. A significant number of overseas Indian workers are women. The vast majority of these workers are temporary migrants and 90 per cent of them work in the Gulf. These workers often face difficult living and working conditions in the host countries and they approach the Indian missions for help.
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