AP NRIs plea to YSR on separate Ministry

Hyderabad, Aug 3 (UNI) Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) belonging to Andhra Pradesh have urged Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy to constitute a seperate Ministry for NRIs as in Kerala to handle their problems.

Andhra Pradesh NRI Study Group Member Afsar Faheem told newsmen such a Ministry must be equipped with sufficient powers and budget to take up welfare measures for them.

The Study Group under State Information Minister Mohd Ali Shabbir which visited several Gulf countries submitted its recommendations to the state government two months back based on which Dr Reddy created a separate department for the NRIs.

Mr Faheem said the study group recommended the government to create a single window to provide various services to visiting and returning NRIs and setting up a corpus fund for extending financial assistance to the NRIs for emergencies among others.

It also recommended an amendment to domicile law in professional courses for Gulf NRI children studying in CBSE system and setting up of extension centres in Gulf Universities besides concessional airfares.

He suggested the creation of a corpus fund for NRIs from the money deposited by those seeking employment in West Asia over a period of 40 years as part of refundable deposit for immigratiion clearance.

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