Has India given enough importance to its Diaspora?
Has India given enough importance to its Diaspora?
Indian Diaspora has proved to be a bridge in bilateral relations. India is estimated to have 25 million Diaspora population spread across 110 countries. Such a huge population is an asset for the country which needs to be tapped. But India has neglected this section and has not given this community the expected importance. This reflects by the fact that the plan to create a data base for the Diaspora has not been realized yet. The ongoing visit of PM Modi and the overwhelming response he is getting from Indian Diaspora has resurfaced this issue and forces us to introspect whether Diaspora is getting enough importance or not.
Yes:
-India has been very vocal about the crimes, injustice that are faced by Diaspora. Due to India’s strong protest against attacks on Indian Diaspora especially Sikhs Australian government was forced to make adequate security arrangements for these people.
-India has raised issues affecting the interest of Diaspora at various platforms and through bilateral deliberations reflected in India’s stance on atrocities meted out to Tamilians in Sri Lanka.
-Every year India organizes Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas to honor the immense contribution of Diaspora. Also India has been issuing PIO and OCI cards to Diaspora for their comfortable and hurdle free visits to India.
-Indian Leaders during their foreign visits have been seen devoting a substantial portion of their time to Diaspora, which manifests their priority for Indian Government.
No:
-Many times the Diaspora has shown its displeasure towards government policies formulated for them.
-Despite having a huge population, the Diaspora has not figured prominently in Indian foreign policy objectives. Also, we don’t have a dedicated ministry for this section.
-Many scientists, academicians have shown their willingness to come back and work in India. But lack of commitment from government’s side and negligence to provide the facilities they have asked for has holding them back from coming to India.
-The immense wealth this Diaspora has created through business has not proved beneficial for the country. They have to face corruption, infrastructural and administrative hurdles whenever they try to invest in India.
Conclusion:
PM Modi’s ongoing visit to USA has shown the kind of affection and love the Diaspora has for India. They feel proud of India’s achievement and are immensely willing to contribute in India’s development. India too needs to make sincere efforts on the ground to remove their apprehensions. Also, today’s globalised era has converted world into global village turning physical distance irrelevant. So, this current wave of optimism in Diaspora has given India a golden opportunity to take the relation with Diaspora to new heights and its success will be a win-win situation for all.
Discussion
- RE: Has India given enough importance to its Diaspora? -Deepa Kaushik (10/06/14)
- Giving importance to the diaspora is of a great concern not only for the population that make a rich Indian diaspora, but also for the growth and development of our nations. Rather than overlooking them, if Indian government could concentrate their attention towards the policies focussing on the welfare of this sect of population, it could definitely be a benefit for us.
As of now, we have hardly given any special importance to our diaspora who have grown well in terms of wealth, economy and fame at different corners of the world. Our Government has neither tried to re-organise and reschedule their policies for the welfare of this group, which could be an encouragement for them from their homeland. This would be a huge mark of support and emotional touch from the motherland to their children settled at various regions of the world.
It is not just the emotional touch that we are giving, but also a matter of pride and prestige for our nation that our citizens have grown to such a height. This honour to our citizens could be an ever-going thread of contact with them. Such an importance to our diaspora would be an encouragement for their come-back as well. Undoubtedly, just the honour wouldn’t help them to get back their attention and return. Our government should have some equalising deals and packages to offer their people who want to come back.
This small encouragement could help our country to have a good economic development for our nation. They can help us with the foreign investment which again would require a good character record of our country. We would require to clean up our nation with its concerning issues like corruption, frauds etc., so that we can have good reputation to attract the foreign investment.
Thus, to conclude, we can precisely call our present gesture as incomplete and inappropriate to provide sufficient support to our diaspora and help us attain the benefits of this population.
- RE: Has India given enough importance to its Diaspora? -Kavita Singh (10/01/14)
- Indian diaspora represent a strong force that India can use for the upliftment of the country. However, the policies of the Indian polity have hardly reckoned the fact that the diaspora's involvement in the parent country is directly proportional to the importance that they are accorded in the policies of the government.
The vast and super rich Indian diaspora can add to the foreign investment if proper policies are in place. And the decision of Mr. Modi to standardize visa norms for NRI and PIO is the first step towards correcting a historical blunder.
Having said that, there is no denying the fact that their involvement in their native country is also dependent on the image that India carves out for itself on the global platform. They would obviously not want to be associated with the land of snake charmers and epidemics but would be more than eager to help if the image is that of the Next Superpower. So India should end the policy paralysis affecting the the economic activity in the country to win the confidence of the vast Indian disapora. After all, everybody salutes the rising sun. - RE: Has India given enough importance to its Diaspora? -Kavita Singh (10/01/14)
- Indian diaspora represent a strong force that India can use for the upliftment of the country. However, the policies of the Indian polity have hardly reckoned the fact that the diaspora's involvement in the parent country is directly proportional to the importance that they are accorded in the policies of the government.
The vast and super rich Indian diaspora can add to the foreign investment if proper policies are in place. And the decision of Mr. Modi to standardize visa norms for NRI and PIO is the first step towards correcting a historical blunder.
Having said that, there is no denying the fact that their involvement in their native country is also dependent on the image that India carves out for itself on the global platform. They would obviously not want to be associated with the land of snake charmers and epidemics but would be more than eager to help if the image is that of the Next Superpower. So India should end the policy paralysis affecting the the economic activity in the country to win the confidence of the vast Indian disapora. After all, everybody salutes the rising sun.
