Indian community dismayed over exclusion of PBD Gulf session

Indian community in Saudi Arabia has sought the reinstatement of the Gulf session at the 12th edition of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) convention to be held in New Delhi next year.
The NRI community in Gulf has urged the Indian government to address the concerns of returning expatriates affected by the Nitaqat (nationalisation) program in Saudi Arabia.
The 'Nitaqat' programme, which is meant to regularise foreign workers, makes it mandatory for local companies to hire one Saudi national for every 10 migrant workers.
The 12th edition of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas will be held in New Delhi during January 7-9, 2014, for which the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs has announced a tentative schedule.

Mohammed Quaiser, president of Tanzeem Hum Hindustani (We are Indians), a voluntary organisation of overseas Indians in Riyadh, said welfare and rehabilitation of Gulf returnees is the responsibility of the Indian government and a social task which should be discussed in the wider context of the PDB for creating awareness among Indians present at the meeting.
"Instead of focusing on this, the programme released by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs shows that there is no Gulf session this time, which is disheartening," Quaiser told the newspaper.

He said that Indians living in Gulf countries comprise the largest number of overseas Indians and contribute to the highest volume of remittances to India.

Quaiser called for the reinstatement of this session, which would enable the state and central governments to devise strategies for the rehabilitation of Gulf returnees.
He advocated constituting an award to honour an overseas Indians from the Gulf region each year and proposed that the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas be hosted in the Gulf.
R Muraleedharan, president of the Federation of Kerala Associations in Saudi Arabia (FOKASA), also expressed his dismay to the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs at the exclusion of the Gulf session in the forthcoming PBD.
"FOKASA urges the ministry to include the session on the Gulf in the forthcoming edition. We have also written a letter to Vayalar Ravi, minister for Overseas Indian Affairs, for its reinstatement to address the concerns of Nitaqat-affected expatriate workers," he said.

The PBD first introduced the Gulf session at its 2nd edition in 2004 by highlighting its significant contribution to India and the community at large. The session has continued unabated until the 11th edition (2013).
"The Gulf session needs to be included, especially now, as the nationalisation drive in the GCC countries to streamline the labour market is under way. The introduction of the 'Nitaqat,' or Saudization program by the government of Saudi Arabia has triggered the exit of thousands of illegal Indians who have left their jobs and returned home to avoid punitive action," vice president of Aligarh Muslim University's alumni association in Riyadh, Nasim Akhter, said.