Context: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 16th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas convention on Saturday. Addressing the event, he told Indians across the world that they are connected in minds because of 'Maa Bharti' and lauded the efforts of the overseas Indians in fighting the challenges last year. He assured the Indian diaspora that the country always stands with them, while mentioning that over 45 lakh people were repatriated under the Vande Bharat mission during the pandemic. The Prime Minister said the lessons learnt by India during the pandemic have become an inspiration for the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative, and this movement for self-reliance is meant to help others as “Made in India” products and solutions will benefit the world. In this regard, he spoke about the two “Made in India” coronavirus vaccines. He said India will continue to play its role as the world’s pharmacy and protect humanity from Covid-19, adding that the world is not only waiting for India’s vaccine, but everyone is watching how India runs the world’s largest vaccination programme. So as India moves forward with its self-reliance initiative, what role can the Indian diaspora play in making Brand India stronger.

About PBD

• Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) is celebrated on 9th January to mark the contribution of Overseas Indian community in the development of India.
• PBD Convention is the flagship event of the Ministry of External Affairs and provides an important platform to engage and connect with the overseas Indians.
• PBD conventions were held every year since 2003.
• Since 2015, its format has been revised to celebrate the PBD once every two years.
• The theme of 16th PBD Convention 2021: “Contributing to Aatmanirbhar Bharat”.

Why PBD is celebrated on January 9?

• January 9 was chosen as the day to celebrate this occasion since it was on this day in 1915 that Mahatma Gandhi, the greatest Pravasi, returned to India from South Africa, led India’s freedom struggle and changed the lives of Indians forever.

Significance

• These conventions provide a platform to the overseas Indian community to engage with the government and people of the land of their ancestors for mutually beneficial activities.
• These conventions are also very useful in networking among the overseas Indian community residing in various parts of the world and enable them to share their experiences in various fields.

Importance of Overseas Indian

• One of the greatest benefits of engaging with the 30-million-strong Indian diaspora has been in terms of remittances.
• Remittances close to 69 billion dollar make an invaluable contribution by aiding in socio-economic development, poverty reduction and changes in consumption behaviour in rural areas.
• NRIs are more prone to donating to domestic charities because of the strong cultural and emotional feelings that they nurse.
• Diaspora acts as 'agents of change' facilitating and enhancing investment, accelerating industrial development, and boosting international trade and tourism.
• Another tangible long-term advantage in nurturing ties with an active Diaspora is an accelerated technological sector.
• A less tangible but important advantage in having a large emigrant group is “diaspora diplomacy” and they act as “bridge-builders” between their home and adopted countries.
• Indo-US Civil Nuclear Deal is a case in point, as ethnic Indians in United States successfully lobbied for clinching of the N-deal.
• The migration of less-skilled labour (especially to West Asia) has also helped in bringing down disguised unemployment in India.
• Migration of skilled labours to foreign countries and their eventual success bolstered the nation’s image.
• Diaspora’s motives to invest in India are in contrast to non-diaspora FDI. Their investments are long lasting as many of them wish to establish a long-term base in India.

Government Initiative

• Government’s initiatives towards the diaspora are two-pronged. Firstly non-residents are provided with consular services, protection and outreach activities.
• At the same time, policies are created to encourage the diaspora to contribute in India’s growth through philanthropy, knowledge transfers, and investments in development projects.
• There is a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) for implementation of the Pravasi Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PKVY).

Pravasi Kaushal Vikas Yojana

• The objective of the Scheme is to institutionalize the process of skill development of emigrant Indian workers.
• Provide them basic knowledge about laws, language and culture of the destination countries for the purpose of overseas employment.
• The Scheme also aims at capacity building in the country in the area of development of standards, learning material, assessment standards, testing and certification on par with global standards.
• Indian Government has also launched Scholarship Programme for Diaspora Children (SPDC) under which 100 scholarships per annum are granted to Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) and Non Resident Indians (NRI) students for undergraduate courses.

Know India Program’ (KIP) is a flagship initiative for Diaspora engagement which familiarizes Indian-origin youth (18-30 years) with their Indian roots and contemporary India.

• Under Minimum Referral Wages (MRW), applicable to Emigration Check Required (ECR) countries, India has increased the minimum wages of Indian workers employed as industrial workers, domestic servants, cleaners and labourers.
• E-migrate system requires all foreign employers to register in the database. It ensures the welfare and check on exploitation met to emigrants.
• Indian government has also started Madad Portal to take timely and speedy action on grievances addressed by people living abroad.
• In words of our prime minister, Indian diaspora are our 'Rashtradoots'. He addressed Indian diaspora in different parts of the world from Madison Square, New York to Kigali, Rawanda.
• The Government of India has given several incentives to NRIs for investing their funds in India. They are exempt from several taxes and other charges. NRI seats are reserved in all the medical, engineering and other professional colleges.
• The Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill 2017 the provision would help non-resident Indians (NRIs) to participate in the electoral process. It extends the facility of 'proxy voting' to overseas Indians, on the lines of service voters.

Challenges
Outside India

• Rising incidence of hate speech and crimes against Indian Diaspora by the locals due to racism, communalism emboldened by coming of nationalist and ultra nationalist governments to power in many countries.
• Increasing anti globalization: Fear of losing jobs and educational opportunities to outsiders has resulted in stricter visa rules in many countries including USA, Australia etc.
• Sectarian crisis, increasing terrorist activities and war in the Middle East countries (Yemen, Oman, Libya, Syria etc) leave our diaspora vulnerable to attacks.
• Adverse local laws to encourage more employment from locals such as Nitaqat Law of Saudi Arabia (mandates one local to be hired in place of 10 migrants) has adversely affected prospects of the Indian working class in Saudi Arabia.

In India

• Out Migration results in substantial drop in the supply of professionals for running institutions and organisations in India.
• Remittances are not always used for beneficial purposes. For instance, India faced problems due to foreign funding for extremist movements like the Khalistan movement.
• The NRIs are not allowed to set up their firms directly in India due to which India is not able to take the advantage of their entrepreneurial skills.
• E-Migrate system and the Minimum Referral Wages policy have been detrimental to India as companies now find it easier to hire labour from countries like Bangladesh and Pakistan.
• Poor schemes coupled with ineffectual implementation hinder the Diasporas’ contribution towards the growth of India.

Road Ahead

• Indian Diaspora has a crucial role in boosting "Brand India" as the country advances towards self-reliance and we hope they are able to help India to achieve this very goal at the earliest.
• Indian diaspora can provide the requisite strategic impulse, which makes it all the more important to unlock India's potential.
• India should formulate a new NRI policy, the government must immediately work with developed countries to ask that they kick back a portion of the income tax revenues they collect from the Indian diaspora.
• This is fair because these countries did not invest anything in creating this talent but benefit immediately when the immigrant pays taxes abroad.