by Moiz Mannan
Along with a push for investments from the wealthier diaspora, the government of the newly-formed state of Telangana has acted on its pre-poll promise by setting up a dedicated “NRI Cell” as a precursor to a full-fledged ministry dealing with issues of non-resident Telanganites.
Several months back, the union minister for overseas Indians affairs, Sushma Swaraj, who also holds the external affairs portfolio, had met with members of Parliament from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh in an effort to understand and mitigate the problems of their workers in the Gulf. Further, as promised, The Deputy Chief Minister of Telangana, Mir Mahmood Ali, visited the Gulf a few days back and personally interacted with expats from the state. A delegation is also likely to visit Thiruvananthapuram to study the Kerala model of NRI welfare.
Although no official figures are available, one estimate puts the number of Telanganites in the Gulf at one million. It is believed that nearly half-a-million of them are from Hyderabad alone, followed by some 200,000 from Karimnagar district in Telangana.
In fact, one of the major factors that any welfare measure must take into account is the disparity among the rich and poor NRIs from Telangana. In this context, M Bheem Reddy, vice-president Migrant Rights Council, has suggested that the Telangana government should not wait for some disaster to happen in the Gulf to devise a rush-up policy. Instead, it should urgently undertake a survey that would address at least two major groups within the larger group of Gulf NRIs. One part of the survey should focus on the issues related to the people from Hyderabad, especially from the Old City, and the other should take into account people from districts like Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Adilabad and Mahbubnagar from where a significant number of farmers have gone to the Gulf to mitigate their sufferings. According to Reddy, the poorer group of returnees accounts for a bulk of the suicides that have plagued the region.
The blue collar migrants, who are often duped by unscrupulous and illegal operators, also face great hardships in terms of getting their children educated. Costs of education are prohibitive in leading institutions and a source of tremendous economic and social stress on the expatriates.
After her interaction with MPs from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, union NRI minister Sushma Swaraj told the media that “We will devise a mechanism so that succor could be provided to such harassed workers. We do not want any workers from India who are working overseas to face any hardship.”
In the run-up to the elections for the state assembly of the new state, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti, headed by the indefatigable K Chandrashekhar Rao, had promised the setting up of a dedicated ministry for the welfare of NRIs on the lines of the Kerala government’s initiative.
Further, the TRS had announced that, if voted to power, it would also help Gulf returnees by providing them loans ranging from Rs100,000 to Rs1 million to set up small and medium business enterprises.
KCR’s daughter, K Kavitha, who spearheaded the election campaign, had spoken about how the Telangana Jagruthi, a socio-cultural organisation she heads, in collaboration with the Gulf Telangana Welfare and Cultural Association (GTWCA), had helped thousands of stranded NRIs in the Gulf to return home by clearing their dues and paying for their tickets.
The GTWCA has also submitted to the main political parties a list of measures to be taken for the welfare of non-resident Telanganites. The major points in this list include an allocation in the budget for Gulf NRIs’ welfare and setting up of a thrift and credit fund to support the migrants during emergency; financial assistance at affordable interest rates for returnees; health insurance to migrants and as well as their families back home; life Insurance for all migrants to the Gulf; quota in higher educational institutes for Gulf NRI children; special housing facilities.
Further this group, as well as other organizations of non-resident Telanganites have appealed to the government to register and maintain a database of migrants. Pressing issues of a general nature include curbing illegal and unethical practices by recruiting agents, sensitizing of Indian missions in the Gulf, regular visits to the Gulf by people’s representatives and technical training to aspirants at mandal level.
TheTRS government has made a start by announcing the setting up of a dedicated NRI Cell to help the state’s migrants in distress. The Cell will headed by an official of the rank of superintendent of Police. The special unit will also launch a 24-hour toll-free helpline at the police headquarters with the primary objective of speedy disposal of complaints.
The families of the NRIs in the state can also avail the service to lodge complaints on matters concerning them or their families in the country. They can also e-mail their complaints to the NRI cell, which would be addressed on a priority basis.
The Telangana government is also planning to set up a separate department for the welfare of NRIs. In the undivided AP, a cell was set up, which used to function occasionally when NRIs faced any problems in host countries.
The Peninsula
