Efforts are on for setting up separate ministry for NRI Kannadigas: Arathi Krishna

Mangaluru: Karnataka NRI Forum Deputy Chairperson Arathi Krishna said that efforts are being made to form a policy and separate ministry for the safety and welfare of non-resident Indians (NRI) from Karnataka.

The Congress manifesto, which was released recently, has also promised to set up a separate ministry for the NRIs at the centre.

The separate ministry will work for the well-being of Non-Resident Indian (NRI) Kannadigas. Along with the five guarantees promised by the Congress in Karnataka, this promise was also made in the Congress's 2023 assembly polls manifesto to NRI Kannadigas, she told mediapersons.

NRI Forum had no one heading it in the last five years. “Now, preparations are being made towards constituting a separate ministry as promised. In fact, there was a separate NRI ministry at the centre in the past. However, after the BJP came to power, it merged with the external affairs ministry,” she added.

Highlighting the need for a specialized ministry, she drew parallels with Kerala, where a separate NRI Ministry has been established to address the concerns of expatriates, including repatriation in the case of deaths abroad.

Stating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his road show in Mangaluru will garland the statue of Narayana Guru, through which, he is trying to woo Billava votes. Krishna said that NRI entrepreneurs are not keen on investing in Dakshina Kannada (DK) due to communal issues in the region but added that Mangaluru is one of the cities in the country which is well connected. "There is a need for further development of the region," she stressed.

To a query on loss of jobs in Saudi Arabia, she said “the NRI Forum is collecting details on the same. It was initiated in the past when I was the Vice Chairman of the Forum. Later, it was discontinued as the Forum did not have any Vice Chairman.”

On BJP’s claim of PM Modi improving the image of the country in the world, she said “image is restricted to publicity. In the past social media was not active. Now, social media is active and messages reach out fast.”