Slamming the Centre's decision to merge Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) with External Affairs Ministry (MEA), Kerala today termed it as an insult to NRI community and demanded that the Prime Minister revoke it at the earliest to avoid any "adverse" effect.
In a strongly worded letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said the "abrupt" decision to merge the ministries was taken without "consultation or any proper analysis".
"I am really shocked to hear the news about the abrupt decision to merge the Overseas Indian Affairs Ministry with the External Affairs Ministry without any consultation or proper analysis. We cannot ignore the contribution of NRIs in India's development and spreading India's rich culture and heritage. This decision is an insult to whole NRI community," Chandy said.
"The decision of the Government of India to merge the Ministry of Overseas Indian affairs with the Ministry of External Affairs will adversely affect the interest of the overseas Indians and hence I request you to kindly reconsider this and withdraw the decision at the earliest," he added.
The Kerala CM, who is in the national capital, said the MOIA was created due to persistent insistence of Kerala and the decision to merge the two ministries was not "right" as the MOIA addressed the problem of overseas citizens, especially from Kerala, in much effective manner.
"The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs came into existence in the year 2002 with the objective to deal with various issues of Overseas Indians and also to frame schemes for their comprehensive welfare. Since then the Ministry took proactive measures for the Overseas Indians.
"The Ministry succeeded in amending the rules for providing voting rights to the overseas Indians, extending dual citizenship to oversees Indians by issuing OCI cards, implementing insurance and pension schemes, and controlling the recruiting agencies effectively," Chandy said in his letter.
He added that the MOIA has intervened effectively during crisis situations in Yemen, Libya and Iraq and also helped the migrant workers to secure gainful employment through signing labour contract with the foreign governments.
Around 16 lakh Keralites reside abroad, of which a large chunk are in the Gulf nations. The community also sends large amount of remittance to the country. In 2014-15, the figure crossed Rs 1 lakh crore.
He also attacked the government for its decision to abandon the annual full fledged Pravasi Bhartiya Divas (PBD), a programme to connect with the Indian diaspora.
PBD conventions are being held every year since 2003. Last year, the government decided to hold larger version of PBD after every two years and that limited version of the event will be organised in the intervening year.
The first limited version PBD will be held tomorrow.
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Chandy, along with K C Joseph, state minister for Non- Resident Keralites (NORKA), will also meet External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and raise the issue with her.
Citing the importance of celebrating the return of Mahatma Gandhi from South Africa with the overseas Indians as Pravasi Bhartiya Divas on January 9th, Chandy said the event should continue uninterrupted.
"I would also express my concern in the decision to suspend the Pravasi Bhartiya Divas celebrations which is the flagship programme of the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs. MOIA since its inception have celebrated the PBD every year for the last 13 years. It has provided a platform for the overseas Indians to raise their problems and concerns before the Government of India as well as the State Governments.
"The overseas Indians took this opportunity to interact and share their experiences and the State Governments had utilised the event for economic engagements with overseas Indians also," Chandy said.
Nearly 12 years after it was set up to improve engagement with the Indian diaspora, the MOIA will be merged with MEA in sync with the Narendra Modi Government's broad principle of "minimum government, maximum governance".
The proposal for the merger was cleared by the Prime Minister, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who also holds charge of the MOIA, said yesterday.
