Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru
Mangaluru, Mar 27: The 2017 budget presented by Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah allotting Rs 50 crore to the NRI Forum has certainly brought cheers to thousands of non-resident Kannadigas working in Gulf countries and in other parts of the globe. This budgetary allocation is the result of the initiative and dedicated efforts of J R Lobo, Mangaluru South MLA who made concerted efforts in this regard. As chairman of the Backward Castes and Minority Community Welfare Committee J R Lobo along with other committee members visited Kerala and studied the Kerala model of welfare measures undertaken for NRIs.
As chairman of the committee J R Lobo submitted the report to the chief minister and the same was presented in the state assembly on February 7 and 9. In the report J R Lobo had requested the government to allot Rs 50 crore for taking up various programmes and welfare measures for the NRIs of Karnataka as per the Kerala model. The chief minister, who recently launched a dedicated policy initiative for the NRIs recently, accepted the recommendations and allotted Rs 50 crore in the penultimate full budget recently bringing cheers to the NRI community of Karnataka.
Reacting to the allocation of Rs 50 crore for the NRI Forum, J R Lobo expressed satisfaction and thanked the chief minister on behalf of the 4 lac NRI community of Karnataka for showing concern for the NRIs. "I am happy the chief minister accepted the report submitted by me as the chairman of the Backward Castes and Minorities Welfare Committee. The committee members had studied the Kerala model wherein a dedicated ministry of NRIs is created to help the non-resident Diaspora of Kerala. In the report we recommended a vast budgetary allocation for the NRI Forum of Karnataka and also suggested strengthening the system by forming a separate department on the lines of the Kerala model to provide necessary help to NRIs of the state and implement various welfare measures," J R Lobo stated.
J R Lobo also pointed out that he has recommended enhancing the NRI fund allocation every year step by step so that the proposed corporation can plan and execute concrete measures for the wellbeing of NRIs. The committee studied the Kerala model and recommended the best practices to be implemented in Karnataka also so that the NRIs get necessary hand-holding to deal with the situation as and when they decide to come back or are forced to come back to the native.
Benefits for all NRIs of Karnataka
J R Lobo, however, clarified that though the recommendations were made by the Backward Castes and Minority Welfare Committee, the funds allotted by the government is meant for the welfare of all NRIs of the state irrespective of caste, creed, religion or language. "The recommendations were made by this committee because we found that nearly 60% of the NRI diaspora belongs to backward castes and minority community”, J R Lobo explained.
Lobo pointed out that though the Karnataka NRI Forum was set up it was inactive all these years because the budget allocated for this Forum was very less and there was hardly any activity from the Forum. So our committee decided to take up the issue concerning the wellbeing of NRIs and we began to collect information in this regard from different parts of the country. We realised that our neighbouring state Kerala has taken up lot of welfare measures in this regard and we decided to visit Kerala to study the measures taken by that government. "Based on our spot visit and detailed study we made certain recommendations and submitted the report to the government. We are happy that the government has accepted our recommendations and has given Rs 50 crore in the budget and has also promised taking necessary measures to implement the recommendations” J R Lobo declared.
The Committee headed by J R Lobo has also recommended the formation of a NRI Corporation on the lines of the Department of Non-Resident Keralites Affairs (NORKA) in Kerala which was set up way back in 1996. A separate department called NORKA ROOTS was up by the Kerala government to implement all the welfare measures for the benefit of the NRIs. Both NORKA and NORKA ROOTS are providing every possible help not only to those who returned from abroad but also to those who require help to go abroad. The report submitted by J R Lobo recommends a similar kind of set up in Karnataka and as a first step in this direction the committee had requested budget allocation of Rs 50 crore in the first year to start with and enhance the allocation every year. With the government responding positively by allotting Rs 50 crore for the year 2017-18, J R Lobo feels that his efforts have borne desired results.
The Backward Caste and Minority Welfare Committee is a committee of the house. When it sits on deliberations it has all the powers of the house because it is like the house sitting on deliberations. Now that the committee has submitted the report the government cannot ignore it. It has to come out with an action taken report on it and that is why this report submitted by J R Lobo as the President of the Backward Castes and Minority Community Welfare Committee assumes great importance. The proactive work and detailed study done by the committee and the acceptance of the same by the chief minister by allotting Rs 50 crore certainly augurs well for the NRI Community of Karnataka.
It may be recalled that J R Lobo took the initiative after NRI businessman and philanthropist Ronald Colaco submitted a memorandum to the government to take measures to safeguard the welfare of the NRI community in Karnataka.