Mid-term review of SAD-BJP government: NRI Affairs - NRI sammelans yield nothing

Monday, 29/09/2014

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2014/20140929/punjab.htm#2

Chandigarh : Despite the much-hyped "NRI Sammelans", the government has not been unable to attract NRI investment in the state. Also, the many problems faced by NRI's, such as property disputes and fraud by banks and insurance companies, are yet to be addressed. Of the 6,000 complaints received by the NRI wing of the Punjab Police, 70 per cent pertain to ‘usurpation’ of properties by relatives and friends. The rest are mostly matrimonial disputes.

A full-fledged NRI wing was established in August 2013 replacing the NRI Cell to deal with NRI complaints. “We received a large number of complaints from NRIs who alleged they that they were being forced to work as a bonded labour in the Gulf and other countries or that they were being detained illegally. Some complained they were victims of racism or hate crimes. We intervened through the Ministry of Overseas Affairs and were able to help a number of such NRIs,” said Justice Arvind Kumar (retd), chairman of the NRI Commission, Punjab.

Though the government has increased the number of NRI police stations, from six in 2008 to 15 now, these remain “toothless” as they have to depend on the SSPs of the area for allocation of funds. The NRI wing of the Punjab Police has meagre resources at its disposal.

Gurpreet Deo, Inspector-General, NRI wing, said of the 6,000 complaints received by the department, 5,000 had been dealt with. “There is no pendency of complaints lodged before 2013. The average complaint disposal time has come down from six months in 2010 to 20-25 days if the complaint has no legal intricacies,” she said, adding that a single-window system had been put in place.

The issue of reviewing the "Sikh blacklist" is yet to be resolved.

Unkept promises

The government had promised to solve problems of NRIs through a network of dedicated NRIs police stations
Only 15 such police stations have been set up so far

Dedicated NRI courts for expeditious delivery of justice for them.
Just one such court has come up in Jalandhar

A single-window system for NRI issues
The NRIs still have to run from one office to the other for work

NRI's involvement in education and health sectors will be encouraged.
Promise not implemented.

Steps will be taken against travel agents to stop harassment of NRIs
Nothing has been done in this direction