Constitute NRI committee to tackle their issues: NRI body

An organisation of NRIs has urged the Punjab government to constitute a NRI committee in the state to tackle various issues faced by the community.

There are numerous issues back home faced by the NRIs who hail from Punjab, the organisation said.

"We suggest that the Punjab government should constitute a NRI committee, which can handle a whole lot of issues faced by the community. Though there is NRI commission in Punjab, but it mainly deals with legal issues faced by the NRIs.

"If there is a NRI committee with many NRIs onboard, several issues faced by the NRIs from Punjab can be better tackled. We also feel it can help bring better coordination with the government in how to market Punjab for investments," Vikram Bajwa, president of Indus Canada Foundation, said.

Foundation's Chairman Gurinder Sodhi hoped the Congress government will provide more congenial atmosphere for the NRIs to come and invest in the state.

"Inside his heart Amarinder Singh feels good for NRIs. NRIs spend millions of dollars on marriages and investments here. As we help give a fillip to the economic activity, the government too should take more steps to encourage more and more NRIs to come and invest in their home state," Sodhi said.

He said the Union government should urge Pakistan to open Kartarpur border for Indian Sikh pilgrims so that they can visit the historic Gurdwara during the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.

Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan was located across Ravi river, about four kilometres from the Dera Baba Nanak in Punjab's Gurdaspur district.

Sodhi and Bajwa said that a mega NRI convention would be organised by the body here betweeb December 15 and 19.

He said that as part of this convention, 'Nankana Sahib' Hockey competition will be organised in Shahabad of Haryana, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar in Punjab.

"For this, there will be a team from Pakistan Punjab side as well, which will be named Pakistan Punjab XI, besides the India Punjab XI team and both will compete against each other," Sodhi said.

About 2,000 NRIs will take part in the convention, he added.