annual report1-final.qxd - Overseas Indian

Parallel Sessions
region.
A major issue was the repatriation of the human
remains of the Hindus, since no cremation is
allowed in many Gulf countries. They wanted the
Indian Government to take action in this matter.
One delegate pointed out that there was no
Minister to listen to the problems of Gulf-based
NRIs and take decisions at PBD 2006. Many delegates
expressed their concern about the education
of their children in the Gulf.
Representing the Government, R.K. Singh said
that, in the coming few months, there would be
some concrete output that would be visible. He
cited the smart card as an example. As for the
absence of any Minister, he referred to the
Emigration Act, 1983, which gave all powers to the
PGOE.
He also said that it was his idea to have a Pravasi
Bharatiya Bima Yojana and many other measures.
He also expressed his concern about the problems
coming from recruitment agencies, adding that he
would be working on it.
A representative from State Bank of India gave a
brief outline of schemes that could be useful for the
NRIs in the Gulf. She referred to the education
loans with a six-month grace period, housing
loans, mortgage loans and other advisory services
that had been made available.
Chair:
Speakers:
Parallel II: Gender Issues of the Diaspora
Dr. Girija Vyas,
National Women Commission
Dr. Ranjana Kumari,
Women Power Connect
Komala Krishnamurthy,
Ministry of Education,
Malaysia
Prof. V.C. Govindraj,
ISIL
For the first time in the history of Pravasi
Bharatiya Divas, a session devoted to gender issues
of the overseas Indians was organised and it came
in for great appreciation from all delegates.
The session started with the presentation of Dr.
Panelists at the parallel session on ‘Gender Issues of
the Diaspora’ in Hyderabad on January 9, 2006.
Ranjana Kumari, in which she dealt with gender
equity and social concerns of overseas Indians. She
emphasised that this was the appropriate forum to
address gender issues of overseas Indians as these
issues needed to be dealt at two levels — the country
of residence and the country of origin i.e., India.
Her presentation addressed three major concerns
— problems related to marriage of Indian women
to overseas nationals, problems of overseas Indian
women in Gulf countries and issues related to
adoption of children by overseas Indians.
She flagged various gender related concerns of
overseas Indians, both social and legal. Issues ranging
from problems of broken marriages, forged
identity, dissolution of marriages in overseas
courts, NRI men deserting their wives, emotional
distress and generic depression due to alienation
from Indian culture were addressed in her presentation.
The legal issues of overseas Indian women
were very difficult to address as the judiciary did
not have the authority to pronounce judgment on
overseas Indian men if they had gone for dissolution
of the marriage in the country of domicile, Dr.
Kumari said.
WPC had taken up this issue with the NCW to
push the government for passing legislation that
would help the judiciary to resolve such disputes
and also provide for extradition of offenders to
India. Adoption of children by NRIs was another
area of concern as there was no law governing the
adoption process by single NRI women/widows
and this also brought forth matters related to
ensuring the security of the adopted child.
Education facilities for such adopted girl children
was another aspect that needed attention, especial-
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