New Delhi, May 8 (IANS) A parliamentary panel has
slammed the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) for lacking
authentic data on the exact size of the Indian diaspora, noting this was
needed for "appropriate policy framing".
The panel also called upon the ministry to take more initiatives to attract investments from non-resident Indians (NRIs).
The
Standing Committee on External Affairs, which submitted its report on
the demands for grants of the MOIA for 2012-13 in parliament Tuesday,
criticized the ministry for spending more funds in last quarter and said
its expenditure should be evenly distributed as far as possible during
each quarter of the year.
The committee took serious note of the
fact that till date the country has not been able to estimate the exact
number of the Indian diaspora and said it was needed for better
functioning and appropriate policy framing of the MOIA.
"The
committee has considered it unfortunate that the ministry created for
handling all the matters relating to overseas Indians has no authentic
data of its own and they have to depend upon the estimates projected in
international documents," the report said.
It rejected "problems
and difficulties" expressed by the ministry based on the responses from
embassies and missions and hurdles about rules by some countries.
"Work
should be undertaken on priority basis appointing a task force or
selecting the agencies having expertise in this field," it said, adding
that necessary funds should be obtained from the Finance Ministry.
Noting
that NRI investment between Aug 1991 and Dec 2010 was Rs.29,347 crore,
the panel said it looked forward to a higher rate of healthy investments
by NRIs in India.
"Financial Services Division of the Ministry
must work on some targets on yearly basis to attract NRI investment in
India using all opportunities including PBDs (pravasi bharatiya divas),"
it said.
The committee desired that some more special
incentives, tax benefits and exemptions, early start up of business and
single window documentation facility should be provided to attract
higher NRI investments.
Observing that the approval for building
plan of Pravasi Bhartiya Kendra (PBK) was delayed for a very long
period, the panel said it expected that the work relating to kendras
would be completed within the fixed time frame of 24 months.
The
panel said it was not satisfied with the progress made regarding
establishment of Pravasi Bhartiya Bhawans (PBB) in states and
recommended that the ministry should make concerted efforts in
consultation with the state governments.
It expressed concern
over "lack of seriousness" shown by the ministry by not making any
allocation for construction or purchase of buildings of existing PoE
(Protector of Emigrants) offices. It asked the ministry to try all
options to fill the vacancies in PoEs in the shortest possible time.
The
committee recommended that the ministry should appropriately increase
the number of undergraduate scholarships under the 'Scholarship
Programme for Diaspora Children (SPDC)' as well as the allocation.
Though
the panel welcomed the recently launched pension and life insurance
fund scheme for overseas Indian migrant workers in the ECR (emigration
check required) countries, it expressed apprehension that unskilled or
semi-skilled workers may refrain from contributing to this scheme
without being convinced with the modalities and procedures of accessing
the maturity amount.
It recommended that all the arrangements
should be made for wide publicity and said possibilities should be
explored to make the contribution mandatory so that the objectives of
the scheme were achieved in a better way and "every worker's life
becomes happy and secure on return to India".
Referring to its
expectations expressed earlier desiring better coordination between the
MOIA and the MEA, the panel said it was more important particularly in
emergencies like global natural calamities or political crisis where
Indian nationals were stranded and immediate relief is required.
It
said MEA comes into action through missions and takes care of such
immediate and emergent situations in the country where the crisis arises
and almost nothing is left to be done by the MOIA after Indian citizens
are brought to India.
"The Ministry of Overseas Affairs being
the nodal Ministry in the matters relating to NRIs and PIOs must work in
close association with MEA while dealing with such situations expecting
future needs of evacuation," the panel said.