The India Development Foundation of Overseas Indians (IDF) is set to transform the Indian landscape where people from the Indian diaspora can contribute for building infrastructure in the country.
At the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, Rs 20 lakh from one visitor and $25,000 from another were donated to the IDF fund. The IDF platform existed earlier too but contributions were never significant as there were many legal hurdles and lack of transparency. Taking these matters into account, the Centre has now made it a more dependable and transparent platform that can help build infrastructure anywhere in the country.
MEA secretary Dnyaneshwar Mulay said, “We have revamped the IDF. It is now a registered trust of the Government of India. We have asked states to provide a list of small and medium projects where people from Indian diaspora can contribute.”
At least 100 such projects will soon be put out on the website. One such project, which has got maximum support is ‘Namaami Gange’, the Ganga river-cleaning project. So far, Rs 3 crore has been collected. The money has been used to build toilets in Tirupati, Amritsar near the Golden Temple and in the Northeast.
Deccan Herald is on WhatsApp Channels| Join now for Breaking News & Editor's Picks