Tytler plans to set up campuses abroad

Minister of State for Non-Resident Affairs Jagdish Tytler may not have an office as yet, but that has not stopped him from conjuring grand plans for his newly-created ministry.

First step, though, is a name change for the ministry. "I want to change the name of the ministry to Overseas Indians Affairs," he said.

Tytler said defining a ministry was not new to him. "When I was offered the food processing ministry in the Rajiv Gandhi Cabinet, then too no one knew what I was going to do," he said.

Tytler seems to have got over his initial disappointment with his portfolio and is ready to submit a report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh tomorrow over the issues that he will like to tackle.

He has grand plans for opening overseas campuses affiliated to Indian universities. "We have received positive feedback about Indian education institutes. People want an Indian Institute of Technology in other countries. This venture is sure to be a success," he said.

Tytler, however, is concerned with more serious problems. "My main concern is the fate of our sisters and daughters who after marrying men from abroad find that they have been cheated. I also want to set up a redressal unit for our unskilled and semi-skilled workers whose passports are snatched from them as insurance against there leaving the country," he said.

He also wants to dispel the myth that all non-resident Indians (NRIs) are well to do.

"Indian workers abroad send back $15 billion a year, by doing back-breaking menial work. We want to serve them too," he said.

As of now, Tytler will be operating out of South Block, where the offices of the external affairs ministry are located. "I am still putting structures in place," he said.

Tytler today went through presentations by industry associations and papers connected to the two Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas festivals organised by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. "Most of my ideas will accrue from these papers," he said.