Jeddah, Jan 10: The Indian government awarded a Riyadh-based expatriate with the prestigious Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award (PBSA) on Thursday.
President of India Pranab Mukherjee handed the award to social worker Shihabudeen Kottukad at the end of the three-day Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) convention, the flagship event of the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, in New Delhi.
He said Shihabudeen Vava Kunju, also known as Shihabudeen Kottukad, was given the award for community service and promoting ties between India and Saudi Arabia.
The convention also held a special session to discuss NRI issues in the Gulf, especially in the wake of new labor laws in Saudi Arabia and the exodus of illegal workers.
The official said the ministry held a special session on the Gulf during the convention before the awards ceremony. He said E. Ahamed, minister of state for external affairs, addressed the session.
The session's participants also praised Indians living and working overseas for their contribution, including those in Saudi Arabia, which has the largest Indian expatriate community in the world.
Some NRIs from the Kingdom, who attended the convention, sent e-mails stating that many people had raised concerns about the national carrier Air India cutting down on routes to the Gulf and increasing airfare during peak seasons. This was affecting the pockets of skilled and unskilled passengers, they said.
Representatives of the Indian civil aviation ministry at the convention said that they were in the process of empowering Air India Express, which was launched to cater for Gulf-based passengers, to become an independent and complaint-free business entity.
The ministry officials said they had also increased services to the Gulf, with a monitoring system in place to ensure flights are on schedule. There was also a system in place for the airline to respond quickly to complaints.
The theme of this year's convention was “Engaging the Diaspora: Connecting Across Generations.”
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