Speaking at the inauguration of the fourth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas here, he proposed several on-site welfare measures to address some of their concerns, including an easy-to-use remittance facility, a Pravasi Bharatiya bima yojana and modernisation of the process of emigration.The three-day event, an annual convention of Indian diaspora, is aimed at networking an estimated 25 million overseas Indians dispersed over 110 countries.
The newly built Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC) near HI-TEC city, the IT hub of the city, was the venue of the event, described both as a conference and a carnival.
Prominent South African leader Ahmed Kathrada, a contemporary of Nelson Mandela, was the chief guest at the convention, attended by at least 2,000 delegates.
Maintaining that NRIs and PIOs were the most important elements of our globalisation, Dr Manmohan Singh said for Indians, globalisation was a natural means of linking up with the international community of Indians.
Appreciating the fact that overseas Indian workers had contributed a great deal to the economic enrichment of the country, he assured that apart from granting them voting rights, the government would address some of their urgent concerns.
The bima yojana, which would be launched with effect from February 1, would provide enhanced benefits to overseas Indian workers, the Prime Minister said.
He also promised to support initiatives to develop the skills of workers and set up credible mechanisms for certification of those skills.
The Prime Minister also announced the intention of the government to set up a diaspora knowledge network to enable improved connectivity between people of Indian origin worldwide.
Stating that we had failed to
incentive our educational institutions to become global players,
the Prime Minister said he was convinced that this was a tremendous opportunity area and underlined the need for a policy framework to deal with proposals from abroad to partner educational institutions in India.The Prime Minister said he would be interested in knowing the outcome of the conference, to be held later, on the idea of creating a university for people of Indian origin.
Describing India as a land of opportunity that placed premium on enterprise and creativity, he said the government was committed to create a hospitable climate fro investment and enterprise.
"I invite you to be active partners of a new India and walk with us in finding new pathways of development and progress," he said.
The conference was being attended by Chief Ministers of 12 states, who would make presentations to showcase investment potential in their respective states.
