NRIs could become directors of corporations in country

NT NETWORK
Posted on 2008-08-13
PANAJI— Non resident Indians could become directors of corporations in the country if a suggestion made to the NRI Commissioner, Mr Eduardo Faleiro during his recent visit to Toronto is taken note of by the Union and state governments.
A proposal to link Goans abroad through a network based in Goa is also on the cards.
A proposal to unite all Goan organisations outside Goa, whether in India or abroad, under one global network based in Goa is also on the cards.
This will be set up by next December with its office in Panaji. The Commissioner told the media that these proposals were discussed during his recent visit to inaugurate the annual Global Goans Convention.
He said that Mr Harinder Takkar, the Minister for Small Business and Consumer Affairs in that government who educated in the country and then migrated to Canada where he became a successful businessman and is now in the government brought this up as part of discussions on the modalities for involving NRIs in the country’s development process as he felt that NRIs who have distinguished themselves in the technological and economic fields could be co- opted as members of boards and corporations so that their expertise would benefit the country and the different states.
The proposal did not involve any particular burden on the Union government as only those who come regularly to India and can afford to be here at their own cost would be nominated.
Mr Faleiro argued that this suggestion deserves sympathetic consideration from our government.
Mr Faleiro also informed that he discussed with Goan organisations modalities for redressal of grievances of non-resident Goans and it was decided that Goan organisations should nominate one representative based in Goa for each country with substantial Goan population and he or she should submit the grievances of Goan expatriates to his office.
“Our office will then forward the complaints to the concerned departments and expect redressal within a month. When this is not possible we will issue a status report every month to the concerned individual indicating the progress in the settlement of his grievance until the matter is finally resolved,” he said.
Mr Faleiro also informed that the Goa Migration Monitoring Study for which a contract was signed with the Centre for Development Studies, a Kerala-based firm, was proceeding as per schedule with the preliminary report to be submitted by October-end and the final report in November next.
Giving details, he said that the CDS had selected 6000 households across the state on random sampling for survey and interviewing and 4000 households have already been surveyed, the inmates interviewed and collection of similar data regarding the remaining 2000 households will be completed by the end of this month.
The study will contain reports on the following twelve subjects: demograply of Goa; migration from Goa, a historical overview; internal migration: census analysis; population characteristics of sample households; international migration estimates; trends and patterns; causes, costs and financing of migration; estimates of remittances and their utilisation; impact of migration on education and health; consumption and investment behaviour in Goa; migration and women; migration and the elderly and rehabilitation of return emigrants.
The study will also include a section on Goan migration from the historical perspective, that is being prepared by the Xavier Centre of Historical Studies and will recreate the past Goan context, social, historical, geographical and political to situate and explain Goan migration.
It will focus mainly on the following regions where Goans migrated: Mumbai and Karachi, East Africa, Portugal, United Kingdom, Myanmar, Macau, Middle East, USA and Canada.