Dammam, Apr 29: The Indian Social Forum, Saudi Arabia, has expressed disappointment that Karnataka’s ruling Congress in its recently released manifesto for May 12 assembly polls has ignored non-resident Kannadigas (NRKs) scattered across Gulf Cooperation Council.
The ISF further said that the Congress should have considered wellbeing of Gulf NRI community at least after numerous appeals from NRI groups to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and others in the wake of economic crisis in the Middle East.
Recent World bank report confirms, India topped the highest recipient of remittance overseas in 2017 and particularly 50% of remittance made from Indian diaspora in GCC countries, however Karnataka is also beneficiary of this remittance.
Notably, NRI community from Karnataka’s coastal belt has been an influential community back home as there are many families, institutions depend on Gulf NRIs remittance. In light of Gulf Job market crisis, Indian Social Forum, Saudi Arabia is requesting the Congress party to revisits the manifesto to include realistic welfare programs to protect the Gulf NRIs and their family’s interest. We hope such move would fetch the Congress party to gain positive impact among influential Gulf NRI community and would also be beneficial for the country’s development, the release said.
The Indian Social Forum has appealed the Congress party to include following points on its Election manifesto:
1- NRI Help Desk in Coastal Districts, Mysuru, Bengaluru and Gulbarga
2- Educational Quota for Gulf NRI students
3- NRI Data Bank – Statistical survey of NRI population, remittance and other statistics
4- Create online platform to raise NRI individual concerns and issues
5- Free Medical aid for Gulf Returnee
6- Assurance of Fund allocation for Gulf NRIs welfare
7- Grant Bank Loan for the aspiring Gulf returnee entrepreneurs
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