Germany-based NRI Gurjeet Kaur first woman ever to contest NRI Sabha polls
Saturday, 19/01/2013
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Jalandhar :It was her attempt of providing timely assistance to distressed NRI women abroad which enthused her to work for women centric issues, especially those pertaining to marriage frauds, hence forcing her step out of the four walls of her posh home in Gottingen in Germany.
She has become the first ever NRI woman from the Doaba belt to contest the elections for the post of president of NRI Sabha elections, to be held on January 27.
Gurpreet Kaur Padda (51), a resident of Kapurthala district, who is keen to pursue the issues of NRI women in distress maintained that after witnessing the plight of many Punjabi women abroad, she felt the need to come forward. “NRI Sabha should have a women representative to address the grievances of such NRI women. NRI Sabha despite having a good representation in Punjab could never think on these lines but it is never too late”, she added. The Germany-based woman said that it was a sorry state of affairs abroad, as people in Punjab wishfully get their daughters married to NRIs without even thinking once of their settlement. “In Germany, I intervened and got some girls remarried after they ended up in matrimony discord. In most of the cases it has been seen that the girls find it difficult to communicate owing to language barrier while the in-laws including the husband enter into domestic violence”, she added.
“NRI women have more problems abroad rather than those in India. It is not just the issue of marriage frauds but cheating, domestic violence, unemployment and solitary confinement too add to their woes. I want to work for such women”, she said, adding that at times of trouble, many women do not even know whom to approach for immediate help. Gurpreet also maintained that she was impressed by the functioning of Inspector General (IG) NRI Affairs Gurpreet Kaur Deo in Punjab. “As she has been taking up the cause of the NRI women, even I would like to pursue my project at NRI Sabha with her support”, she said.
In Gottingen, she along with her husband Sukhwant Singh Padda, who too is a contender for the NRI Sabha elections, owns chains of pizza service and a restaurant there.
When asked that why she didn’t contest the elections earlier, Gurjeet said, “I always wanted to contest the elections but my children were pursuing their school education. As, now they have started their college, I am free to pursue to ambition of fighting for the women issues”.
Gurjeet also added that media has a major role to play in helping the women centric issues. “Since the day, I came to India some five months ago, I had been reaching out to my supporters with the message of fighting for the NRI women issues”, she maintained.
7 NRIs in fray to meet for unanimous presidential polls
Jalandhar: The seven key contenders for the post of Punjab NRI Sabha president would meet on Saturday for exploring the possibility of unanimously electing the president amongst them. The last date to file the nomination papers was January 17.
Earlier on Friday, the scrutiny of the nominations was done by SDM-cum-assistant returning officer Iqbal Singh Sandhu. Sandhu added that the last date to withdraw the nominations was January 20 while the elections would be held on January 27. “If no unanimous decision is taken, the candidates in fray will contest the elections on January 27,” he said.
Meanwhile, the contenders were reaching out to their supporters to win maximum votes in the elections. This time two former presidents of NRI Sabha namely-Pritam Singh Narangpur and Kamaljeet Singh Hayer have filed their nomination papers. Among others were Jasbir Singh Gill, Jagjeet Singh Toor, Sarabjit Singh, Sukhwant Singh Padda and Gurjeet Kaur.
