UP CM to attend Pravasi Bharatiya conclave

Led by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, Uttar Pradesh will participate in the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Jan 9, 2015 in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, Chief Secretary Alok Ranjan said here Tuesday.

Presiding over the preparatory meeting for the state's participation in the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, he said that the Uttar Pradesh government is "sensitive and aware towards the problems of Non-Resident Indians (NRIs)".

Ranjan added that the state had constituted an NRI department after contacting and communicating with NRIs with origins in Uttar Pradesh.

He added that this was being done to address their issues as well as to provide special facilities to NRI investors.

The chief secretary asked all departments concerned to get their brochures and CDs updated with latest information regarding all policies and government orders pertaining to industrial development, investment and specific sectors like IT, food processing, manufacturing, energy and dairy development. A list of upcoming projects should be prepared for information dissemination.

The union ministry of overseas Indian affairs organises Pravasi Bharatiya Divas every year to mark the contribution of the Indian community living abroad to India's development.

Jan 9 was chosen as the day to celebrate this occasion since it was on this day in 1915 that Mahatma Gandhi, the greatest pravasi, returned to India from South Africa to lead India's freedom struggle.