Now, a web portal for lower and middle class NRI's

By Naveen Kapoor

New Delhi, Mar.12 : Non-Resident Indians are almost always perceived as a moneyed multi-billionaire class and seen as a vibrant segment that can contribute to the country's economic growth.

People like steel baron Lakshmi Mittal, Britain's Lord Swaraj Paul and Lord Meghnad Desai have always been in the news. Government initiatives like Pravasi Bharatiya meets have also emerged as perfect platforms for upper class billionaire NRI's from Europe and US who want to reconnect with their roots and give something back to the society in which they were born.

For the small and medium income NRIs residing in Arab and African nations, a new portal called the Tasveer-e-Hind was recently launched by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi.

The chairman of the Tasveer-e Hind Foundation, S M Asif, said: "The portal will address the grievances of the lower and the middle class NRI's and forward their problems to the government through the Internet".

The website is intended to tap the working class in the Middle East and the African countries. Ironically, this neglected lot has played a very crucial role in bailing India out of the fuel crisis in the late seventies. In fact, the Indian Government has tried to woo this segment much before the European and US NRIs' which were roped in only after the Indian economy opened up in the 90's.

The Tasveer-e-Hind website will be the one stop info shop which will be hyperlinked to all the crucial Indian ministries, missions, leadership and various government departments. Whether the initiative will really be able to overcome the Lacunae between the government and the NRI's, but is hailed as a good move by the movers and shakers in the government.

ANI