CM strikes emotional chord, asks NRPs to bring young ones
Sunday, 12/01/2014
http://epaper.dailypostindia.com/Details.aspx?id=91775&boxid=58340&uid=&dat=2014-01-12
Jalandhar : Striking an emotional chord with the Non-Resident Punjabis (NRPs) to stay connected with their roots, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Saturday asked the NRPs to ensure that the young generation visits Punjab, lest it was too late.
The Chief Minister urged the NRPs who had gathered from the US, UK, Canada and Europe to play a proactive role in making them aware of the rich Punjabi cultural heritage, traditions and customs of the state.
In a fervent appeal, the Chief Minister said, “Before it is too late, the NRPs should take first step towards bringing the third generation back to their roots. You (NRPs) have made it big in life and earned a large amount of money abroad, but it is of no use, if your children were detached from their rich legacy of Punjab.”
“The third generation of NRPs, who were born and brought up abroad would not be aware of Punjab. As they have not visited their villages, they might not even come for the NRI Sammelan to be conducted in the times to come. Let us understand the need to work in this direction, as it involves the future of Punjabis settled abroad,” the Chief Minister said, adding that the NRPs need to introspect about this.
The Chief Minister also expressed his desire to assist the NRPs in bringing their children closer to their roots, and said, “Send your children, who were raised abroad for schooling from Class I to XII. The state government would set up at least five to ten special schools for the children of the NRPs in the state. The state government would bear the entire expenditure on schooling of the children of the NRPs.”
Further talking about the upcoming events in Punjab, the Chief Minister asked the NRPs to actively participate in the upcoming agriculture summit, which would be held in the month of February.
“Punjabis, who were the elected members in abroad, including others, should bring the latest technology of agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry and fish farming for the farmers of Punjab. Besides, this our government would also bring similar summits of healthcare, education and a special All India event for Punjabis settled across the country in the days to come,” he said.
In his address, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal has also urged the NRPs to make their children aware of the development in Punjab. “India is a land of opportunities and has youngest population in the world. There are enormous possibilities to explore the economic ties between Punjab and other nations, and Punjabi Diaspora could play a vital role in this area,” he said, highlighting that Punjab was the only power surplus state in the country.
“We are all set to give a major facelift to the holy city Amritsar with a major thrust on tourism promotion. The holy city will witness a beautiful look as massive alterations in building designs, roads, and beautification dating back to 200 years at the cost of Rs 2,000 crore is planned,” he said, adding that similar infrastructure boost will be witnessed in Jalandhar and Ludhiana too.
The Deputy Chief Minister also said that the Punjab government was all set to provide 4G network in the villages, hence giving fastest internet connectivity round the clock, hence probing it to the NRPs that they would stay connected even sitting in remote villages.
Further giving details about the ‘Online Punjab Misson 2014’, the Deputy Chief Minister said that under this initiative all citizen-centric services would be provided online by December this year.
“To get delivery of services, people will be online instead of standing in queues at government offices for trivial works,” he added.
NRI Affairs Minister Bikram Singh Majithia urged the NRPs to look forward to Punjab, as a progressive state.
