Fact or Fallacy
Bikram Vohra explains how empowering NRIs can help them evolve as ambassadors at large
The relationship between the non-resident Indian and the home country has always been a tad ambivalent. On the one side, NRI feels he is a bit done in by the attitude of the private sector, the media and even the red tapes that snarl the public sector, which suggests that nearly 30 million of us ran away for our creature comforts and should pay a sort of price for it.
By the same token there are enough Indians who add to the chasm by their boorish conduct, constant whining, rudeness and impatience with all things Indian, the dirt, smells, systems et al, — we can be hurtful and thoughtless and there is no point pretending otherwise. This category of person has often been observed at airports getting into arguments, being oafish and ill-mannered.
At one stage when nothing was being done to improve all matters NRIs, wounded by their inability to either vote or have representation in Parliament began to refer to themselves as Non Required Indians. Fortunately, technology and a new awakening after the first Gulf war in 1991 spurred the bridging of the gap and as more Indians travel for leisure and work, the often clumsy mystique of living and working abroad has largely vanished.
Today, travel and technology have actually caught their flight back and across the work spectrum Indians are not that keen on placing themselves on the global market. In fact, the contrary has become the norm. And opportunity is not going abroad but doing well at home. As a result, the genial contempt in which the majority held the minority has evaporated.
Not just that but both sides have realized they can commercially gain from each other and the network of the Indian diaspora is a powerful weapon.
But let me try to bring a new dimension to an old equation.
At the outset, let us put aside the past. The old suspicions and distrusts, the play on the NRI as being Not Required Indian and its many interpretations have no place in the hi-tech world we live in. These are prejudices that found root when the world was not a global village.
It has now shrunk dramatically and the longest distance is less than seconds away on the internet and only hours in person.
Reputed UAE-based NRI Ram Buxani, in his bestselling book Taking the High Road, makes a succinct argument.
“This social network has created a closeness that we must both exploit to the maximum and gain from it.
We are Indian and we will always be Indian. On our part it is time to stop ‘licking our wounds’ and feeling ‘left out’ or ‘put out’ by actions we attribute to our governments and the authorities over the years. So much good time has been lost, so much endeavour placed on hold, so much commerce left to rust because NRIs had become a label.
I propose we decide here and now to drop the label. We are Indians who live abroad and our hearts are here and always will be. Let us change the underlying sentiment of the NRI and make it a proud one.
Our priorities are the same and if there is a hill for us to climb it lies in ensuring that we do not create too much distance between our children and their homeland. “
For Gulf Indians freighted by proximity that almost makes living abroad a facsimile of life at home with the added advantage of lifestyle the fear is the impermanence of their stay and the fact that their children, having enjoyed a financial liquidity may not want to go home.
We are now eight million Indians doing extremely well across the board in the GCC enclave. This is a huge reservoir of Indian talent and acumen and capability.
Tap it in India. In South Africa, as we tap into you. We are a robust community in Singapore, Hong Kong, Kenya and other parts of east Africa. Let us now begin to share our bounty and knowledge and make the NRI a truly global entity.
And what, you might ask, has to be done to bring this about. To begin with, inculcate a higher level of mutual trust and acknowledgement. A long promised setting up of a ministry to deal with Indians who live abroad that goes beyond window dressing and is predicated on a long-term programme. Also, fast track paperwork and the clearance of projects. India is a global tomorrow, and we are the nation’s ambassadors at large.
It is not the $50 billion that Indians repatriate every year to their home country. It is the still lingering sense of isolation that we sometimes feel…the same sort of sensation when a brother says, yes, it is okay for you to be here now paying the bills but where were you when Dad was ill and we had to rush him to hospital, where were you when Mother broke her hip, where were you when we fought the case in court. WHERE WERE YOU?
We were working, but we were never away in spirit or in mind and distance. We were representing India with pride and with commitment and we were making a living…nothing to be ashamed of or apologise for.
It has been said that unless non-resident Indians are given the right to franchise, something guaranteed by the Constitution, there is no vote bank and, therefore, no political interest in this huge entity. That may well be true and the few stabs made in that direction have never really been penetrative, dying feebly in editorial columns and letters to the editor.
There are other issues that have to be placed on the anvil.
Let the authorities define the status of Pravasi Bharati and accord Pravasi Bharatiya Praman Patra to those who satisfy the requirement. It is time that certain parameters were placed upon the entity and its functioning.
By that very token the question of dual citizenship and the holding of an Indian passport becomes a front burner issue.
With liberalization, today almost every sixth Indian periodically travels overseas on an Indian passport.
But merely possessing the document does not establish that a person is a NRI.
An Overseas Indians representation needs to be nominated in the law making body. If artistes and other professionals could find a berth in the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, overseas Indians should also be considered for nomination in the law-making body. They are bound to contribute substantially for the benefit of the country.
As these aspects fall into place we can build on the foundation.
The Indian Missions in the Gulf countries can be equipped with professional educational counsels to guide the children about availability of the educational — academic as well as technical — facilities within the country.
In much the same fashion a separate Ministry for Overseas Indians could co-ordinate with various ministries regarding different issues faced by the NRI is a need of the hour and the government should consider this matter.
All it will do is bring us closer to home. And there can be no harm in that.
