Ministry of External Affairs Government of India

Minister of State for External Affairs, Gen. V K Singh: Namaskar, sabse pehle to aap se milkar khushi ho rahi hai aur aapki utsukta dekh kar jyada khushi ho rahi hai.

Sabse pahle to prishthbhoomi aapko bata doon. Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2015 mei humne faisla kiya tha ki har doosare varsh hoga. Aur ye jo antaraal ka varsh hai iske andar hum kuch aise Vishay chunte hain jo ki jaroori hain, jismein hum sochate hain ki pravasiyon ki bhagidaari ho sakti hai aur un vishayon ke upar ek panel discussion hota hai jismein hum kuch Pravasi experts ko bulaate hain aur kuch hamare hote hain.

Inke saath jab charcha hoti hai to kuch apni anushansaayein banaate hain. Aur un anushansaaon ko jab Pravasi Bharatiya Divas hota hai to uske plenary session ke andar unko padhaa jaata hai, logon ke saath uske upar vaartalaap kiya jaata hai, usmein koi sujhaav aur dena chaahe to usko daalte hain.

(First let me give you a little background. In the year 2015 we decided that we will hold the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas once every two years. And in this intervening year we select certain topics which are important and in which we believe there can be participation from the diaspora community. We have panel discussion on these topics in which we invite certain experts from the diaspora community and certain experts from India.

When we have these discussions certain recommendations are made and then those recommendations are presented during the plenary session of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas and then discussed with the participants of PBD and if there are any suggestions then those are also included in these recommendations.)

Jin logon ne pahle 2015 aur usase pahle ka jo PBD aapne aatend kiya hoga to aapne dekha hoga ki kai baar plenary session ke andar sirf shikaayton ka daur hota hai. Ab humne usko focus kar diya hai kyonki shikaayaton ka ek suljhane ka ek aur jariya available hai joki hamara hamesha khula rahta hai.

Is varsh ka jo hamara 15vaan Bharatiya Pravasi Divas hai iske andar hum Pravasi bharatiyon kii bhumika naye Bharat ke nirmaan mein dekh rahe hain. Aur jo humne Vishay chune they wo usii prakaar ke they. Artificial Intelligence tha, Cyber ke baare mein tha, kis tareeke se unki bhaagidaari ho sakti hai uske baare mei tha. 6-7 topic jo humne rakhe wo aise they jo aaj ke daur mein bilkul praasangik hain.

(People who had attended plenary sessions of PBD 2015 or earlier might have noticed that during such plenary sessions only complaints were discussed. Now we have focused the plenary on something else because there is another way to resolve disputes and complaints which is always open for the diaspora community.

In this 15th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas convention we are envisaging the role of diaspora community in building a new India and the topics choses represent the same. Like the topics included Artificial Intelligence, Cyber security etc. and who can they participate. The six to seven topics that we had are all very relevant to current scenario.)

Hamara ye 15van Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, 21 tareekh ko shuru hua. Ismein pahla jo satra thaa wo yuva pravasiyon ke liye tha. In Yuva pravasiyon ke andar iski hamari Videsh Mantri Sushma Ji thi, Pradesh ke Mukhyamantri Yogi Adityanath Ji they aur Yuva maamlon ke aur khel maamlon ke mantri Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore they hamare saath. Ye satra khula aur uske andar cheezein discuss kii gai.

Dopahar ka jo samay thaa wo Uttar Pradesh ke liye tha, Uttar Pradesh ke Pravasi Divas ke liye jismein unke sab log uske andar aaye.

22 tareekh ko iska aupchaarik inaugural hua, Pradhanmantri ji kal yahan par they. Pravind Juganauth Ji joki hamare mukhya atithi hai, Mauritius ke Pradhanmantri hain wo iske andar maujood they. Donon ne apni taraf se pravasiyon ko kaafi prerit kiya, unko kaafi prerna dii, unko kaii cheezon mein aage badhane kii baatein bataii.

(This 15th PBD started on 21st January and the first session in this convention was dedicated to the young diaspora members. The session included our External Affairs Minister, Smt. Sushma Swaraj Ji, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath Ji, and Minister of State for Youth and Sports Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and we discussed many things in the session.

Afternoon was reserved for the Uttar Pradesh Pravasi Divas in which their participants attended.

22nd January was the formal opening of the 15th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas convention. Prime Minister was present here and the Pravind Jugnauth, Prime Minister of Mauritius was the Chief Guest of the program. Both of them inspired the diaspora community a lot and told a lot of things about moving forward.)

Kal dopahar se hamare satra shuru hue plenary sessions. Ye antral wala jo varsh tha ismein humne jo Vishay rakhe they unke upar aur aaj bhi abhi tak wo chal rahe they. Aaj Rashtrapati Ji sham ko jo Pravasi Bharatiya Samman award hai vo dengen.

Aapne ye bhi dekha hoga ki jab hamara yuvaon ka hua tha uske baad kal humne jo log Bharat Ko Jaaniye quiz ke andar jo log vijeta rahe unko baakayda puruskar bhi diye gaye. Aur aapko ye jaankar khushi hogi ki jab humne ye pahle bharat ko jaaniye quiz kiya tha usmein takareeban 10 ya 15 hazaar log they. Is baar 40 hazar logon ne uske andar bhaagidaari kii.

Apne aap ke andar is baar ka Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Sammelan ek anootha Sammelan raha hai. Kaaran uska ye hai ki hum jab aamtaur par 9 January ko usko shuru karte hain lekin abki baar kyonki baahar se hamare pass is cheez ki bahut demand aai ki ji Kumbh bhi ho raha hai to aap Kumbh ke andar humko kyon nahi lekar chalte. To unki sab cheezon ko dekhate hue Pravasi Bharatiya Sammelan ko abki baar is tareeke se rakha gaya ki 21-22-23 hum yahaan par Sammelan karenge. 24 ko unko Kumbh lekar jayenge taaki vo bhi apni sanskriti ke baare mein, dharm ke baare mein, Kumbh ke ayojan ki jo itni badi cheez hoti hai, usko dekhein ki kaise Kumbh ka aayojan hota hai.

(Plenary sessions started from yesterday afternoon and the topics were those which we had panel discussions during the intervening year and the discussions were still ongoing. Today evening Hon’ble President of India will distribute the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman awards.

You must have seen that during the Youth PBD we had given prizes to the winners of the Bharat KoJaniye (Know India Quiz) and you would be glad to know that in the earlier session of quiz there were only 10-15 thousand participants, however this time more than 40 thousand people participated in it.

This Pravasi Bharatiya Convention has been a unique one in its own.And the reason for that is that generally we hold the PBD on January 9th but this time we had so much demand from the abroad that the Kumbh is being organized at the same time, why don’t you make arrangements for us to visit the Kumbh. So keeping all that in mind the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas was scheduled in such a way that we will be holding the convention here on 21-22-23 January. On 24th we will take the participants to the Kumbh so that they also get to know about their culture, their religion and this event of Kumbh which is being organized at such a grand scale.)

Apne aap ke andar ek anootha aayojan hai, kitne karod log aate hain, kaise unki dekhbhaal hoti hai. Aur abki baar Uttar Pradesh Sarkar ne bahut mehnat karke Kumbh ko safal banaane ke liye bahut kaam kiya hai. 24 ki sham ko ye log Delhi chale jaayenge aur 26 ko inmein se takreeban 3000 log aise hain joki ganatantra divas parade dekhna chaahte hain, uske liye hum unke liye intezaam karengen.

Abki baar jahan tak panjikaran hota hai usmein 7228 logo ne aupchaarik taur par panjikaran kiya hai, bahut jyada number hai. Aur Kumbh ke takareeban 3000 se jyada log Kumbh jana chaahte hain aur wohi 3000 uske baad 26 January ko dekhna chaahte hain.

Jo bade group hamare pass aaye, wo aaye America se, Malaysia se. Saath-saath ek cheez aur main kahna chaahunga ki ye hamare jo Pravasi yahan par aaye 7200 se jyada takreeban 90 deshon se alag alag jagahon se aaye hain. Kuch ke bade group hain, kuch single hain, kuch do mein hain lekin 90 alag-alag deshon se jahan hamare Pravasi rahte hain, 3 karod se jyada hamare Pravasi hain, unke pratinidhi yahan par aaye aur iske andar wo shareek hue.

(Kumbh is a unique event, many crore people visit and how they are looked after and this time Uttar Pradesh Government has done a lot of hard work to make Kumbh a success. The PBD participants will then go to Delhi on the evening of 24thJanuary. Around 3000 of the participants of PBD wish to see the Republic Day Parade so we will be making arrangements for that.

As far as registration is concerned this time 7228 people have formally registered which is a very high number. And among them around 3000 participants wish to go to the Kumbh and then witness the Republic Day Parade in New Delhi. We had large groups from America and Malaysia. One more thing that I would like to tell you that the almost 7200 participants that came to this PBD they came here from different places in more than 90 countries in the world. Some came in large groups and some came alone or two or three people. We have more than 30 million strong diaspora abroad and they were represented here from more than 90 countries.)

Kuch Vishay jo hamne antral varsh mei discuss kiye unmein se pahla tha wo Yuva pravasiyon ke sath tha. Yuva pravasiyon ke saath kis prakar sambandh achhe banaye jaayein, kaise unke saath Bharat ki sanskriti aur bharat ko joda jaaye taaki wo hamesha iske baare mein jaante rahein.

Uske baad kal humne jo ek satra kiya wo tha solar power ke upar. Kaise affordable solar power ke andar pravasiyon ki bhaagidari ho. Kuda nishpaadan ke baare mein humne kal kiya ki kis prakar affordable kuda nishpaadan ke liye Pravasi bharatiyon ki bhaagidari ho, unke kya is baare mein sujhaav ho.

Aaj humne kiya ki Artificial Intelligence ke liye kaise capacity building kii jaye, kaise aur logo ko uske andar joda jaaye kyonki aane wali cheez ke andar hamein desh ke taur par aage rahna hai. Agla satra humne kiya ki jo hamare pravasiyon ne apne saamaajik sangathan bana rakhe hain baahar, unki kya bhumika honi chaahiye jo Bharatiya fas jaate hain ya dikkat mei hote hain unko madad karne ke liye.

(Some topics on which we had panel discussions, first among themwas with the young diaspora members. How to better our relations with the young generation of diaspora community, how to connect them with India and Indian culture so that they are always knowledgeable about it.

After that the next session that we did yesterday was on solar power and how our diaspora community can participate in it. After that we did another session on waste management and sought the suggestions from the diaspora community.

Today we did a session on how to build capacity for artificial intelligence because we as a nation want to be ahead in the coming technologies of future. The next session that we did was on the topic of the role of social organizations which have been created abroad by the diaspora community in helping the distressed Indians abroad.)

Aaj abhi dopahar mein hum iske baad teen aur satra karenge. Ek hai ki hamari cyber capacity ko kaise badhaaya jaye aur ek jo abhi karke hum hate hain ki jo Bharat ko apna yogdan dena chahte hain, yogdan paise ka nahi hai, yogdan apni saamarthya ka hai, yogdan sujhaavon ka hai, yogdan kuch kaam karne ka hai chaahe aap usko shiksha ke kshetra mein karein, aur kisi kshetra mein karein, kis prakar aap apni matrubhoomi ko kuch dena chaahte hain, uske liye kya cheez hai, kya uske andar kar sakte hain, kaise usko aur aagey badhaaya jaaye.

To aap dekhenge ki bade praasangik Vishay hain, aise Vishay jisase ki desh ko aur Pravasi, dono ko uska fayda hoga. Aur aap log ne exhibition dekhi hogi, pracheen Bharat, aadhunik Bharat, kaafi space uske andar rakhi gaii aur Uttar Pradesh Sarkar ki taraf se Atal Ji ki smriti mein ek bahut badhiya pradarshni bhi rakhi gaii hai aur har tareeke se koshish kii gai hai ki iska fayda pravasiyon ko bhi miley aur desh ko bhi miley kyonki ye exhibition sift dikhaane ke liye nahi hai. Iske andar sujhaav aate hain, business deals banti hain, logbaag dekhate hain hum kya kar sakte hain, kya nahi karsakte hain.

To is tareeke se main ye kahunga ki ab tak ye hamara bahut safal samaroh hua hai. Aur main isko sirf ek safal samaroh nahi manta, main isko ek aisa mukaam manta hoon jahan par hum sab log ikatthe hote hain aur desh ki badhhottari ke liye kaam karte hain. Dhanyawad.

Uttar Pradesh ke baare meiSwati Singh Ji kuch bolengi, wo sun leejiye.

(We have three more sessions after this in the afternoon. One of them is how to increase our cyber capacity and another which we just concluded was about the diaspora members which want to contribute in India, this contribution is not of money, it is the contribution of their capabilities, their suggestions, contribution of their efforts be it in the field of education or any other area for that matter, how if you wish to give to your motherland, how can you do that and how to move ahead in that direction.

So you can see that all the topics are very relevant and which will benefit both the diaspora community and the country also. You people must have seen the exhibition also Ancient India – Modern India. There is also a very good exhibition in the memory of Atal Ji by the UP government. All efforts have been made that the exhibition benefits both the diaspora community and the country also because it is not just for display only. Many suggestions are provided, business deals are made, people look at things and decide if they can help in some areas or not.

So I would say that it has been a very successful event. And I don’t consider it just as successful event, I consider it a destination where all of us gather and work for the progress of the country. Thank you.)

NRI Affairs Minister for UP, Ms. Swati Singh: Sabse pahle to main sir ko Namaskar karti hoon aur is manch par baithe hue sabhi Bharat Sarkar ke adhikarigan aur saamne baithe sabhi patrakaron ko main Namaskar karti hoon aur bahut dhanyawaad dena chahti hoon ki aap log is press conference mein aaye.

Sir ne poora brief kar diya hai ki kis tareeke se hum logon ne pandrahvan Pravasi Bharatiya Divas ka yahan par aayojan kiya aur kitne log usmein aaye, kitne logon ne participate kiya. Main batana chaahungi ki sath hi sath hum logon ne bhi apna chautha Uttar Pradesh Pravasi Divas ka bhi ayojan kiya tha kyonki jis tareeke se hum log ne dekha jo Pravasi Bharatiya they, jinka response aa raha tha, jis tareeke se Bharat Sarkar ne unke saath ek samvaad bithaane kii koshish kii thi, jis tarah ka response aa raha thaa uski safalta ko dekhate hue Uttar Pradesh Sarkar ne bhi Uttar Pradesh Pravasi Divas kii shuruaat kii thii.

Is varsh hum logon ne chautha Uttar Pradesh Pravasi Divas manaya. Main batana chaahungi ki jitne logon se main mili, yahan nahi main baahar bhi gaii hoon, logon se milkar aai hoon Uttar Pradesh mool ke jo log baahar rahte hain unki ichha thi ki wo apne Pradesh ke liye kuch karein, apne desh ke liye kuch karein aur main yahan par fir usi shabd ko dohrana chaahungi jo maananeey shraddhey Atal Ji ne kaha tha ki hamein aapka paisa nahi aapka anubhav chaahiye.

Usi tareeke se jaise sir plenary session kii baat kar rahe they hamare yahan bhi plenary session hua. Chunki jo hamara satra chala wo bahut chhota-chhota tha, jo udghaatan satra tha wo do baje ka tha aur samaapan satra hamara panch baje ka tha lekin jo ek samvad jo hum unse sthaapit karna chaah rahe they, jo ek sahyog unse chaah rahe they ki bhavishya mein unka sahyog miley, unki sahbhagita rahe Uttar Pradesh ke vikas mein unki poori sahbhaagita rahi aur aagey bhi mujhe lagta hai ki jis tareeke se hum unke saath kaam karna chaahte hain wo taiyyar hain un cheezon ke liye aur unhein bahut achha bhi laga ki pahli baar unke desh mein, unke Pradesh mein is tareeke se unke ek positive way mei, ek constructive way samvaad bithaane ki koshish kii jaa rahi hai aur wo bahut khush hain ki jis vikas ki hum baat karte hain usmein unki bhi sahbhaagita rahegi.

(First of all my greetings to the MoS External Affairs and other officials present on this stage. I would like to greet all the journalists sitting in front of me and thank them for their presence in this press conference.

Sir has already briefed in detail how we organized the 15th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas here and how many members participated in it. I would like to tell you that we have also hosted our fourth Uttar Pradesh Pravasi Divas along with the PBD as we had witnessed the response from the diaspora community about the efforts of Indian government to connect with them, to have a dialogue with them, inspired by that UP government also started to host the State PBD.

This year we celebrated the fourth Uttar Pradesh Pravasi Divas. I would like to tell you that almost all the diaspora community that I have met, not only here I have also been abroad, diaspora community of UP domicile they wanted to do something for their state, for their country. Here once again I would like to repeat what our venerable Atal Ji had said, we don’t want your money, we want your experience.

We also had plenary session as MoS was talking about the plenary sessions in the PBD. Since our session was quite short, it started at 2:00 pm and concluded at 5:00pm. But the dialogue which we wanted to establish with them, the cooperation from that we were expecting regarding future cooperation and participation in the development of UP, I can say that there was full cooperation from them and I believe it will also be there in the future on how we want to collaborate with them and they are ready for it. They felt very nice that there is an effort to establish a constructive dialogue by their country, by their state and they are happy that they will be a part of the development that we talk about.)

ODOP – One District One Product kii baat bhi main jaroor karungi ki yeh concept lekar jo Uttar Pradesh Sarkar chali usmein yahin par stadium mein hum logon ne ODOP ke counters banaye they jo Uttar Pradesh Sarkar ke dwara banaya gaya tha. UP pavilion bhi banaya hai, main aap sabhi logon se aagrah karoongi ki jahan par ODOP ka poora campus hai wo aur UP Pavilion bhi aap log ek baar jaakar jaroor dekhiye kyonki wahan shraddhey Atal Ji ki poori gallery bani hui hai, unki poori life journey ko humne dikhaya hai. Uttar Pradesh mein development ka jo kaam hua hai usko bhi dikhaya hai jab se maananeey Yogi Ji Sarkar chala rahe hain.

Iske alawa wahan par humne ek chote se auditorium ki tarah sthapit kiya hai, wahan par Varanasi ke baare mein aur Kumbh ke baare mein chhoti si ek movie hum chalaa rahe hain taaki jo log Kumbh nahi jaa rahe hain wo bhi yahan se baithe-baithe hi Kumbh aur Sangam ke darshan kar lein aur uske baare mei jaan lein ki kya hai wahan par ki kis aadhyatmik Shakti ki hum baat karte hain, kis virasat ki hum baat karte hain, uski bhi jaankari bhi un logon ko ho jaaye.

Hum logon ne koshish kii hai ki jitne bhi hamare awardees aaye they, kyonki ODOP ki Mukhyamantri ji baat karte hain to hum logo ne koshish kiya ki hum unko angvastra ya jo bhi cheezein unko diye wo ODOP se hi related ho aur wahi kaam hum logon ne kiya bhi hai.

Kyonki NRI Vibhaag mere pass hai main NRI Vibhaag ke baare mein bataungi ki jabse ye mantralay maine sambhaala hai uske baad hum logo ne Grievance Redressal Portal ki sthapna kii kyonki maine dekha ki bahut saare aise NRIs they, bahut saare aise Pravasi Bharatiya they jo Uttar Pradesh mool ke they, unhein kaii aisi samsyaon ka saamna karna pad raha thaa jo police se ya court se related tha. Jyadatar zameen ke vivaad they ya paarivaarik vivaad they. Hum logon ne koshish kiya ki jitni bhi samasyein woupload kar rahe hain un samsyaon ko duur kiya jaaye. Poori koshish kar rahe hain aur kaafi had tak hum usmein safal bhi hue hain.

(ODOP – One District One Product, I would definitely like to speak about ODOP that the way UP government has pursued this concept of ODOP and we have made counters of ODOP in this stadium only. There is also a UP Pavilion, I would request all of you to visit the ODOP and the whole UP Pavilion campus as there is also a gallery on our venerable leader Atal Ji in which we have depicted his whole life journey. We have also showcased the development work since Yogi Adityanath Ji took charge of the government.

Other than this we have made a small auditorium in which we are playing a short movie about Varanasi and the Kumbh so that those people who are not visiting the Kumbh can also view the Kumbh and the Sangam from here only and get to know what kind of spiritual power and heritage we talk about, they will also get some information about that.

Since our Chief Minister believes in ODOP so much so what we decided that we will be gifting items to all the awardees from the PBD related to ODOP only and that is exactly what we did.

Since I handle the NRI Affairs department I will tell few things about it. Since the time I became in charge of the NRI Affairs Department we established a grievance portal because we found that a lot of NRIs from UP had a lot of issues related to the courts or police. Mostly the disputes were regarding land or it were related to family matters. We tried to resolve all the grievances that have been uploaded on the portal. We are trying very hard and we have become successful also.)

Iske saath hi saath maananeey Videsh Mantri Sushma Ji se main ek aagrah kiya tha, jo bhi log baahar jaate hain kyonki Bharatvarsh mein jitna bhi immigration hai uska 30 % Uttar Pradesh se hota hai. To maine unse ek aagrah kiya thaa, maananeey Mukhyamantri Ji ne kaha tha ki, main ek baithak mein gaii thi Delhi to unhone kaha tha ki tum aagrah karna, maine ma’am se aagrah kiya ki ek pre-departure training hota hai. Jab koi bhi apne desh se doosare desh jaata hai to hum log usko pre-departure training dete hain, Bharat Sarkar deti thi. Maine Sushma Ji se aagrah kiya tha ki ma’am agar aap Lucknow mein bhi iski shuruaat kar dein, kyonki Uttar Pradesh mein ek bhi nahi tha aur main bahut-bahut dhanyawad karna chaahungi General V K Singh sir ka, Videsh Mantri Sushma Ji ka, Videsh Mantralay ka dhanywad karna chaahungi ki Uttar Pradesh mei iski shuruaat ho gaii hai.

To kahin na kahin jo aise bachhe they, jo aise log they jo bina training ke jaate they, unko pata nahi tha ki kis tareeke se humko baahar jaana hai, wahan jaakar jo pareshan hote they, us cheez ko humne koshish kiya hai ki kam ho jaye aur hum logon ne ye bhi prachaar prasaar kiya Bharat Sarkar ke sahyog se ki jo bhi bahar jaa raha hai wo government ki aise agencies hain jinko humne register kiya hai unke through jaayein na ki kisi illegal agency ke through jaayein. To hum unko poora ek booklet provide karte hain, usmein poori soochi hai. Ismein bhi main Bharat Sarkar ke Videsh Mantralay ka dhanyawad dena chaahungi aap logon ne hamein ek-ek soochi di hai ki kitne aise agency hain jo illegal kaam kar rahe hain aur usmein kaafi hum logon ne band bhi karwaye hain aur jaise jaise hamein uski jaankaari milti hai unka band karwane ka bhi hum kaam karte hain.

Bahut achhe se hamara pandrahvan Pravasi Bharatiya Divas ho gaya hai aur uska samaapan samaroh thodi der mein hai. Jis ek achhe vichaar ke sath hum aagey badhe they mujhe lagta hai usi achhe vichaar se iska samaapan bhi hoga. Bahut bahut dhanyawad.

(I requested one thing to our Hon’ble External Affairs Minister Sushma Ji. 30% of the total immigration that happens in India is from Uttar Pradesh, so I had requested one thing. I had gone for a meeting to New Delhi, then our Hon’ble Chief Minister asked me that I should make a request to our EAM. There is a pre-departure training which government of India provides to all the immigrants who are going abroad. I requested Sushma Ji that if she could arrange to provide that training in Lucknow also as there was no training center in Uttar Pradesh. And I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to EAM Sushma Ji, to General V K Singh Ji and to the Ministry of External Affairs that the training has now been started in Lucknow also.

So somewhere there were people who were going abroad without any training, they were not aware how should they go abroad and they get troubled after going abroad, so we have tried to reduce that thing. With the cooperation from Government of India we have also tried to create a lot of awareness that those who wish to go abroad they should go through the agencies registered with us and not through the illegal agencies. So we provide them with a booklet which has a complete list. Here I would like to thank the Ministry of External Affairs that they have provided us each and every list of all the agencies which are functioning illegally and we have closed a number of them as and when we get information about them.

15th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas has been a very big success and its concluding ceremony will be held shortly from now. The great thought with which we moved forward I believe the conclusion will also reflect that thought. Thank you.)

Official Spokesperson, Shri Raveesh Kumar: Thank you ma’am. Dekhiye sawaal jawaab ke liye jyada samay nahi hai par iske pahle ki hum us khand mein jaayein, main do-teen cheezon ki announcement karna chaahunga.

Agar kisi ko photographs chahiye, hamare photographers hain yahan par to hamara ek Flickr account hai, uske baad hamara Instagram hai jahan par aapko photos available hain jo aap download kar sakte hain. Teen Flickr account chal rahe hain, ek Indian Diplomacy ka hai, ek MEAIndia jisko operate Videsh Mantralay karta hai aur ek PBD Convention. Iske upar bhi hamare photographs aur byore aa rahe hain to usase bhi aap kuch information le sakte hain.

Facebook ke upar kaafi cheezein aa rahi hain wahan se abhi aap dekh sakte hain. Iske alawa jo satra chal rahe hain uska byora hum baar-baar nikaal rahe hain aur isko hum apni website par bhi daal rahe hain. Wo website pe agar aap jayenge, aap agar www.mea.gov.in par jaayein usmein aap Hindi par click karenge to Hindi wala jo satra hai jo ho raha hai, Hindi wale saare press releases Hindi section mein hain. Jitne bhi press releases humne issue kiye hain unki hard copies media center mein available hain, aap wahan se le sakte hain.

(Thank you ma’am. See we don’t have too much time for Q&A but before we proceed to that section I would like to make few announcements.

If anyone here needs photographs then we have our photographers here and we have a Flickr and an Instagram account, where photos are available and you can download from there. There are three Flickr accounts, one is of Indian Diplomacy, another is for MEAIndia which is operated by MEA and third is PBD Convention. Details and information is available on all the three accounts so you can get them from there.

A lot of things are available on Facebook. Other than this we are providing details about the ongoing sessions and making it available on our website also. If you go the website www.mea.gov.in and click on ‘Hindi’ so the session that is going on Hindi and related press releases are available there. Hard copies of all the press releases issued by us are available at the media center, you can get it from there.)

Question: Jo aapki vipakshi partiyan hain unka ye kahna hai ki kahin na kahin BJP Kumbh aur Pravasi Bharatiya Divas ki political branding kar rahi hai taaki aane waale Lok Sabha chunaav mein BJP iska fayda utha sake?

(Your opposition parties are saying that somewhere BJP is doing political branding of Kumbh and Pravasi Bharatiya Divas so that you can benefit from them in the upcoming general elections.)

Minister of State for External Affairs, Gen. V K Singh: Kal viapakshi partiyan kahengi ki hum aasaman aur jameen ko jodne kii koshish kar rahe hain to kya aap maan lenge. Vipakshi party kya kahti hain aur kya nahi kahti hain usko chhod deejiye, jo yatharth hai jo maine aapko bataya, uske upar vishwas keejiye.

(If tomorrow opposition parties start to say that we are trying to join the sky and the land, will you believe that? Please do not pay heed to what the opposition parties are saying, have trust on what is the truth which I told you.)

Question: General saab, aap shuru se hi overseas dekh rahe hain aur videshon mein bhi kaam kiya hai, 2014 mein aapki Sarkar aayi, usase pahle har saal ye Pravasi Bharatiya Divas hota tha jaisa sabko pata hai aur Atal ji ke samay se main bhi cover kar raha hoon. To ye jaanana chaahta hoon ki aapki Sarkar ne isko do saal mein kar diya, ek saal ka gap kar diya, wo kyon kiya, us ek saal mein aap log kya kar rahe hain, pahli baat. Doosara, jitne NRIs hain ab tak jo pahle Bharat Ko Jano, Gandhinagar mein tha ki hum ek sankalp lekar chalenge to us Bharat Ko Jano ke tahat kitne NRIs ko fayda hua hai aur ab jo ye Uttar Pradesh mei ye hua hai PBD ismein ek bhi state ka koi satra nahi hai, to aisa kya kaaran raha ki koi aur state, jaise states ke satra hote they, Uttar Pradesh ka satra, Gujarat ka satra, MP ka satra, ye hote they, Gujarat mein bhi hua tha lekin is baar kisi state ka satra nahi hua to kya hua, states ne aane se mana kiya hai ya koi samay ka abhaav tha?

(General Sahabyou have been looking after overseas and you have also worked abroad. Your government came in 2014 and prior to that Pravasi Bharatiya Divas was held every year as everyone knows and I used to cover it since the time of Atal Ji. So I would like to know that your government changed it to once in every two years, and put a gap of one year, why did you do that and what is it that you do in the intervening year, this is the first question. Second question is how many NRIs have benefitted from this Bharat KoJano (Know India Program) as it was there in the Gandhinagar PBD also and we had taken a resolve about this. This PBD which has just been concluded in UP there was session on states, so what was the reason that there was no session about any state, like earlier there used to be sessions on Gujarat, MP but there was no session on states in this PBD, it was also there in Gujarat, so what could be the reason, did the states said no to come or was there shortage of time?)

Minister of State for External Affairs, Gen. V K Singh: Aapke teen alag-alag sawaal hain, main teeno ka jawaab deta hoon. 2015 se pahle har varsh hota tha. 2015 mei humne jab Gandhinagar mein kiya to ek cheez humko samajh aai, ek naii Sarkar ke taur par. Isko ek mele ka roop mil gaya thaa. Log-baag aate they, jo apne sambandhi they unko laate they, kuch log aate they, ghoomte they, firte they. Uski jo ek saarthaktaa thi uske andar se jo ek nichod nikalna chaahiye tha, wo nahi nikal raha tha.

Session kya hote they ki achha ji aap falan state mein aa gaye hain, state discuss kar lo, accha ek gulf ka kar do, wahan par jyada samasya hoti hain. Humne jab usko theek karne kii koshish kii to hamare dimaag ke andar ye aaya ki isko ek varsh ka antral rakha jaaye taaki us varsh ke andar kuch aise Vishay chune jaayein jinke upar bahut gambhir tareeke se baatcheet ho, panel discussion ho, ministry ke neeche. Aur 2016 ke andar humne wo shuru kiye, 2017 ke andar humne Bangalore ke andar kiya, 2018 ke andar humne wahi apne satra rakhe.

Ab isase faayda kya hota hai. 2015 mein bhi main Gandhinagar mein tha. Har satra ke andar kabhi aapko ghoomte firte 100 mil jaate they, ghoomte firte 50 mil jaate they. Jyadatar log peechhe baithkar gappein-shappein karte they kyonki wo interest nahi tha. Ab aap dekhiyega, main aaj subah aaya, subah thodi barish ho rahi thi to log thoda der se pahunche, kareeb 70 log maujood they. Takreeban 15-20 minute ke baad haal 70% bhar gaya, ye fark hai. Iski ek saarthaktaa badhi hai.

Doosari cheez, jahan par pradeshon ka maamla hai, maine aapko abhi samjhaya ki chunki pahle koi iski rooprekha nahi thi to jis Pradesh mein karte they, us Pradesh ke baare mein kar lo, ek Vishay chun lo. Hum mukhyamantriyon ko bulate hain. Iske andar bhi mukhyamantriyon ko bulaya tha, agar unke liye koi Vishay aata hai to hum dekhate hain ki unko kaise engage kiya jaaye. Do mukhyamantri aaye they Haryana ke aur Uttarakhand ke lekin hamare pravasiyon se koi aisa Vishay nahi aaya ki hum unse kahte ki aap kisi satra ko lein ya uske andar baithein.

Jahan tak Pradesh ka sawal hai, agar Pradesh apna Pravasi Bharatiya Divas bhi isi ke saath kar raha hai to wo sab cheezein wo log discuss karenge aur wo hi hum chaahte hain. Hum chaahte hain ki us Pradesh ka apne pravasiyon ke saath jyada aatmiyata badhe na ki Kendra Sarkar use karke.

(You have three different questions and I will answer all three. Before 2015 PBD was held every year. When we did the 2015 PBD in Gandhinagar we came to know about one thing as a new government. It had almost become like a fair, people would come, bring their relatives, would visit here and there, its relevance was lost and the nothing could be extracted from it.

What were the sessions that were held, let’s see, we have come to this state so let’s do a session on it and let’s have one session on gulf because there we have many issues. When we tried to fix it then it came to our mind that we must keep a gap of one year and in this intervening year we must have certain serious panel discussion on relevant topics under the supervision of Ministry. And we started that in 2016. We did PBD in 2017 in Bangalore and in 2018 we again had those panel discussions.

Now what is the benefit from this. I was also there in the Gandhinagar PBD. In every session you would find either 100 or so people attending them and majority of them will sit in the back and gossip because there was no interest in the sessions. Now you see, today morning when I came, it was raining in the morning so people were late, I could see that 70 people were present but after 15-20 minutes the auditorium was 70% full. This is the difference, it increases the relevance of the sessions.

Secondly, as far as the issue of sessions of states is concerned, I just explained to you that earlier there was no outline for the program so in whichever state the PBD was organized a session on that state was held. We invite chief ministers, and we have invited them for this PBD also. If some issue crops up related to them then we see how to engage them. Two chief ministers from Haryana and Uttarakhand did attend the PBD but since no issues were raised by the participants to make us ask them to take or attend any particular session.

As far as states are concerned, if the state is also hosting its own Pravasi Divas with the PBD then it is they who will be addressing those things and which is what we also want. We want that the affection of diaspora community increases with the state government instead of the central government.)

Question Contd.: ……….. Inaudible ……………

Minister of State for External Affairs, Gen. V K Singh: Dekhiye aisa hai ki maine ye nahi kaha ki us Pradesh mein nahi hoga ya hoga. Maine kaha ki koi jaroori nahi ki us Pradesh ke baare mein hum karein. Humne abhi tak koi state nahi chuna hai. Uttar Pradesh bhi humne pichhale saal chuna tha.

Iske beech mein hum jin cheezon ko Pravasi Bharatiyon ke beech mein rakhna chaahte hain wo hamne soch li thi. Uske andar state nahi tha kyonki main samajhata hoon ki state ke baare mein, wo state jismein hum karenge wo apne aap apne state ke baare mein batayega. Uske liye alag faisla karne ki, alag discussion karne kii aavashyakta nahi hai.

(See, I have not said that it will not be held in state or not. I said that it is not mandatory that we do a session about that state. We have not selected any state till now. Uttar Pradesh was also selected last year only.

We decided the issues and topics which we wanted to discuss with the diaspora members. That did not include state because I think the state in which we will host the PBD will themselves talk about their state. There is no need to have a separate discussion for them.)

NRI Affairs Minister for UP, Ms. Swati Singh: Aapka jo question tha ki state ka koi session nahi tha ismein, is par main ek submission karna chaahungi. Meri apni ye soch hai aur mera ye maanana hai ki agar hum apne desh kii baat kar rahe ho aur wahan par koi technical session chal raha hai to desh ka matlab saare hi Pradesh aa jaate hain. To agar Kendra Sarkar apne Pravasi bharatiyon ke saath koi samwad sthapit kar rahi hai kisi issue ko lekar baat kar rahi hai kisis area ko lekar baat kar rahi hai to wo sirf apne Kendra ke liye nahi poore desh ke liye baat kar rahi hai.

(I would like to make a submission regarding your question related to why there was no session related to the state. This is my thinking and what I believe that if we are doing a discussion which involves technical discussion related to the country then automatically all the states are covered in that. So if the Central government is having a discussion with the diaspora community on some issue then they are doing it for the center only, they are doing it for the whole country.)

Question: Main aapka dhanyawad dena chaahta hoon ki humne pahle jo mudde uthaye the pichhale Pravasi Divas mein Bangalore mein, aapne unko bakhoobi hal kiya. JO hamara Punjabiyon ka aur Canada vasiyon ka ek mudda hai, bahut der se, pehle to tha kaali soochi ka, usko to lagbhag aapne bilkul saaf kar diya hai, uske liye hum aapke dhanyawadi hai. Doosara Vishay jo hai wo hai ki jo log yahan se 20-25 saal pahle kaale dino mein yahan se majboori se baahar bhage they, ya chale gaye they refugee claim kar liya wahan par chale gaye. Unke jo chhote bachhe they wo ab youth hain aur Bharat Sarkar yahan ke 65% jo youth hain unke liye kaam kar rahi. To un youth bachhon ko Bharat Sarkar na to passport de rahi, na unko koi facility de rahi hai. Kam se kam agar kisi ne refugee apply agar us time par kiya tha to uske baad wo Canadian ho gaya, uske chhote bachhe bade ho gaye to unka haq banta hai kyonki wo yahan par paida hue hai, kam se kam un logo ko passport milna chahiye. Ye hamari request hai. Doosara kuch logo ke passport lambe arse se gum ho chuke hai, 20-25 saal se log wahan rah rahe hain, pehle 5 saal ya 10 saal ka visa aam logon ko mil jata tha jo bhi request karta tha, lekin ab agar koi request karta hai to nai Sarkar aane ke baad lamba visa lene ke liye wo purane passport maangte hain, puraane kai paper maangte hain joki dhoondhane naamumkin hain. Ye hamari chhoti chhoti si vinti hai aapke paas, ye koi sujhaav nahi hai. Agar un bachhon ko passport mile, Consulate General chaahe unko ek saal ya do saal ka dein, wo yahan aayenge aur India ke saath judenge, wo youth bhi aapke saath judega. Nahi to wahan ke jo log hain jo nahi chaahte hain ki India ke saath bachhon ka taalluk ho, wo log unko exploit kar rahe hain. To is par poora gaur kiya jaaye.

(I would like to thank you that the issues raised by us during the Bangalore PBD have been resolved. You have completely eliminated the issue of black list of the Punjabi people in Canada. Second issue is about the people who migrated from here 20-25 years ago during black days claiming themselves to be refugees. Their little children have now become the youth. Indian government is doing so much for the 65% youth population of India. Indian government is neither giving these youth any passport or facility. The people who took asylum in Canada during those times became Canadian citizens and their little children have now become youth and it is their right as they were born here in India, so they should at least get their passport in India. This is our request. Second is passport of a lot of people have been lost. People have been staying there from last 15-20 years. Earlier long term visa of 5 years or 10 years was available to everybody who would apply for it but now the government is asking for old passports and documents which are impossible to provide. This is a very small request from us, this isn’t any suggestion, if those children get passport, Consulate General may give it to them for a year or two, they will come to India and connect with it. Otherwise the people there who do not want that these youth connect with India as they are exploiting them. So please think about it.)

Minister of State for External Affairs, Gen. V K Singh:Jo aapne baatein bataai hain vo vicharadheen hain, unke upar faisla liya jaayega. Kai ismein pahloo hain, sirf ek pahloo nahi hai. Kai pahluoon ko soch samajhkar hamare logo ke liye kya achha hoga, pakka uske upar karyawaahi hogi.

(The things that you told those are under consideration and very soon a decision will be taken. There are many angles to this issue. After considering all the angles on the issue and what is ultimately good for our people, a decision on this will be taken.)

Question: Har baar jab Pravasi Sammelan hota hai to logo ko utsaah hota hai ki hamare desh mein videshi nivesh aayega. To Is baar kya anumaan hai ki kitna videshi nivesh aayega, kyonki har baar Pravasi Sammelan ke baad jab aarthik uski gadna hoti hai to kuch na kuch usmein badhottari darj kii jaati hai, to is baar kya rahega, kya videsh Mantralay ne uska koi aanklan kiya hai? Aur Kuch NRI se aaj meri baat hui, wo Sushma Ji se mil rahe they, unki ek shikayat thi, unka kahna tha ki hum log yahan aate hain to humko yahan NGO se milwa diya jata hai. Hum Bharat ko nazdeek se dekhna chaahte hain, aur agar agle sammelano mein hamein grameen ilakon mei bheja jaaye to bada achha rahega.

(Every time when we organize this PBD people are very hopeful that we will have foreign investment in our country. So what are estimates for the foreign investment this time because every time after the PBD when economic things are measured then some growth is registered, so what would be the increase this time, has MEA made any calculations about that? I had a discussion with some NRIs here, they were speaking to Sushma Ji, they had a complaint that whenever they come here they are introduced to a NGO. We want to know India closely, it would be great if during future sessions we are taken to rural areas.)

Minister of State for External Affairs, Gen. V K Singh: Pahle to main aapko kahna chaahunga ki Pravasi Bharatiya Divas nivesh ke liye nahi hai. Ye jo aap nivesh ki baat kar rahe hain, remittances aate hain, aaj ki tareekh mein $72 billion, hamare jitne bhi Pravasi hain unke paise hamare banko mein aate hain.

Pravasi ko hum bulate hain unke saath sambandh pragaadh karne ke liye. Unko hum bulate hain ki jahan par wo rah rahe hain wahan par unhone kuch naii cheezein seekhi hain, naii technology dekhi hai, kya uska kiyaa jaa sakta hai, wo hua hai.

Sirf agar aap nivesh par jayenge to main kahunga ki $72 billion to ho hi raha hai kyonki ye remittances aapke pass aa rahe hain. Nivesh kaise aayega jab wo bahar jakar vyaparik sangathanon se baat karenge ki ye cheezein humko pata chali hain, ye achhi hain, chaliye iske andar invest karte hain, iske andar joint venture lagate hain, wo nivesh hoga aur wo mankar chaliye jis tareeke se cheezein badhi hain, jis tareeke se pradarshini ke andar unki baatcheet hui hai, uska fark padega.

Doosari cheez hai jo hamare pradhanmantri ji ne bhi kahi thi ki hamein paisa nahi chaahiye, bahut hai Bharat ke pass paisa. Bharat itna gareeb nahi hai ab lekin ab aap khud sochiye, aaj se 20 saal pahle koi kahta tha 5 karod ki road banana hai, to 5 karod kahan se aayega. Aaj aap kahte hain 5 karod, 350 karod. Ye badlaav aaya hai desh ke andar. Hamein unki taakat chaahiye, unke sujhaav chahiye, wo technology jismein wo kaam kar rahe hain wo chahiye taaki hum desh ko aur aagey le ja sakein.

(First of all let me tell you that Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is not meant for foreign investment. The investment that you are talking about, we received $72 billion as remittances from NRIs in our bank accounts.

We invite diaspora community to deepen our relations with them. We invite them so that they can help us understand and adopt usage of new initiatives, new technologies which they have witnessed in their current country of residence.

If you only talk about investments then we are already receiving remittances worth $72 billion in our banks. How would investment come? It will come when they will go back and discuss with business institutions that see we have got to know about these things and they look promising, let’s invest in them, let’s make a joint venture about it, that would be the investment. And let me tell you that the way things have shaped and the way discussions had happened during the exhibition, rest assured it will have an effect.

Second thing is that which was also reiterated by our Prime Minister also that we do not need money, India has a lot of money. India is not that much poor now but you yourself think, if 20 years back someone would say that they will build a road of 5 crore rupees then it was very hard to think how to fund that 5 crore rupees. Now instead of 5 crore you say 350 crore. This is the change that has happened in the country. We need their suggestions, we need the technology in which they are working so that we can take our nation ahead.)

Question: Jo 90 deshon ke delegates is karyakram mein aaye hain, kya abhi tak kuch figure out ho paya hai ki inmein se kitne desh aise hain jo UN ke sadsya hain aur khastaur par wo jo Suraksha Parishad hai, uske sadasya hain?

(Participants from 90 countries have come to attend this PBD, so have we got any idea among these 90 countries how many are part of UN and especially those which are from the Security Council?)

Minister of State for External Affairs, Gen. V K Singh: Dekhiye Suraksha Parishad ke andar to 5 permanent hain aur uske baad asthayi sadasya bante hain to usko chhod deejiye. 5 permanent ke to aapke paas UK ka, US ka to naagrik aayega. Yahan par China mein jo rah rahe hain wo bhi aaye. Russia se bhi aaye hain, France se bhi aaye hain. Baaki 90 jinki main baat kar raha hoon sab ke sab UN ke sadasya hain. 193 hain, 193 se Bharat ko nikal deejiye, 192 desh hain, sab uske sadasya hain. Koi aisa nahi hai jo UN ka sadasya na ho.

(See, there are five permanent members of UN Security Council and after that there are non-permanent members, so we must leave them. So from the five permanent members we have participants from all of them US, UK, China, Russian and France. Further regarding 90 countries which I was talking about, all of them are members of UN. There are 193 member countries of UN and if you take out India then there are 192 member countries. No country is such which is not a member of UN.)

Question: Kitne NRIs ko matdata banaya gaya hai aur Uttar Pradesh se jahan tak meri jaankari hai, abhi tak sirf ek matdata hai?

(How many NRIs have been made voter? According to my information there is only one voter from Uttar Pradesh.)

Minister of State for External Affairs, Gen. V K Singh: Dekhiye ye maamla election commission ke pass hai ki unko matdata banaane ke baad wo mat kaise daalenge. Sawaal wo hai, jiske upar soch vichar kiya ja raha hai. Kai sujhaav aaye hain, ek baar Election Commission uske upar faisla kar lega apne aap unko mat daalne ka adhikar mil jayega.

(See, this issue is with Election Commission as to how they would vote after they have been registered as a voter. That is the question which is being pondered over. A lot of suggestions have been received, once Election Commission takes a decision on that they will automatically get the right to vote.)

Question: Kal sham ko jab briefing hui thi to yahi aankade bataye gaye they 7228 aur ye kaha gaya tha ki kuch manual panjikaran hue hain wo jud jaayenge to sankhya aur badhegi. Desho ki sankhya 92 bataai gaii thii. Aaj apne 90 bataai hai, to hum exact jaananaa chaahenge. Uttar Pradesh ke kitne NRIs aaye aur agla Sammelan kahan hoga?

(Yesterday during the press briefing the registration figure of 7228 was provided and it was said that some manual registrations have also been done so the numbers will increase. The number of countries that was reported was 92. Today you have said the number is 90, so we would like to know the exact figures. How many NRIs from Uttar Pradesh attended and what would be the location of next PBD?)

Minister of State for External Affairs, Gen. V K Singh: Agla Sammelan agle saal decide hoga. Doosara, 7228 jo bola aapko ye panjikaran hue, dekhiye hota kya hai. Hum jab panjikaran karana shuru karte hain to ek tareekh rakhte hain lekin hum Bharatiya hain, hamare Pravasi bhi Bharatiya hain, last minute tak kuch aate hain uske baad kahte hain ki ji aage kar do, wo karte karte jis din wo hone wala hota hai us din tak panjikaran hota hai. Ye hamari manovratti hai, kaam karne ki shaili hai, aakhiri minute mein wo decide karta hai ki iske saath main ye bhi kar loonga, ye bhi kar loonga, wo bhi soch ke aat hai, isliye panjikaran ka jo sahi number hai 7228, pratinidhitv 90 desho se hai.

(Next convention will be decided next year. Second, the figure of 7228 that we informed you is the number of registrations that were made. See what actually happens is that when we start the registration process we keep a last date for it, but we are Indians and our diaspora members are also Indian, so what actually happens is few registrations are done by the last date and after that requests come to extend the date, so it happens that we have registrations till the date of the event. This is our nature, our style of working. At the very last minute they decide that I will also do this also along with attending the PBD, there are many people who come with this in mind. So the correct number of registration is 7228 and representation is from 90 countries.)

Question Contd.: Aaye kitne hain? (How may did actually come?)

Minister of State for External Affairs, Gen. V K Singh:Ab jab panjikrat 7228 hain to aaye bhi 7228 hi hain. Uske alawa unke koi sambandhi, member, mitra aaye honge yahan se, wo additional hain.

(Now when 7228 registrations have been done then 7228 participants have come also. Other than that their friends, relatives from here might also have come which would be additional.)

Official Spokesperson, Shri Raveesh Kumar: Aap sabka is press varta mein aane ke liye bahut bahut dhanyawad. Thank you very much.

(Thank you very much to all of you for attending this press conference.)

(Concludes)