Invitee alleges apathy by UP officials ahead of NRI meet

A US-based Indian who claims to have received invitation by Uttar Pradesh government for its NRI conclave has alleged apathy on part of UP officials due to which he will not be able to attend the event.
Satnam Singh Chahal, officiating director of North American Punjabi Association, said he was invited to the three-day UP NRI conclave, that begins tomorrow in Agra, by UP government.
"I came at my own expenses from the US to India and also spent USD 100 in registration for the NRI conclave," he told reporters here.
"Following this, I tried contacting officials of Uttar Pradesh government and wrote several mails to them asking the details of the three-day event but did not get any response," he added.

Chahal, who has now gone to his home town Jalandhar in Punjab, told reporters that it was only this afternoon that he received a call from a UP official.
He claimed "This afternoon I got a call from state NRI department director, R B Sharma, who asked me to reach Agra, which is not possible for me now."

Lashing out at the state government, Singh demanded that Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav look into the matter.
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Meanwhile, UP government said it has only invited NRIs
from the state and there may have been some confusion.
"Uttar Pradesh government has invited only the NRIs from UP. If anybody comes on their own, the state government is not responsible for that," a senior official said in Lucknow.

The state government did not extend any invitation to any non-UP NRI, the official said adding "the incident may have occurred due to some misunderstanding".