Bhagwant Mann govt to hold programs to listen to, redress grievances of Punjabi Diaspora

Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], November 30 (ANI): The Punjab government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to hold five programs called 'NRI Punjabiyan Nal Milni' to listen to grievances of the Punjabi Diaspora and deal promptly with them.
These programs will be held at Jalandhar, SAS Nagar (Mohali), Ludhiana, Moga and Amritsar on December 16, 19, 23, 26 and 30 respectively.
After a review meeting with NRI Affairs Department Punjab, NRI Commission, and NRI Sabha, Punjab NRI Affairs Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal said that issues and complaints of NRI Punjabis will be resolved promptly as well as on the spot during these meetings, said a press release.
He added that issues of NRIs belonging to Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, SBS Nagar and Kapurthala would be listened and resolved during a meeting on December 16 at Jalandhar. Similarly, the program to be held at SAS Nagar on December 19 during which matters of Punjabi Diaspora belonging to SAS Nagar, Rupnagar, Fatehgarh Sahib and Patiala districts will be resolved on theNRI Punjabiyan Nal Milni spot, added the statement.
The Cabinet Minister further said that during the program at Ludhiana on December 23, issues of NRIs of Ludhiana, Sangrur, Barnala and Malerkotla to be resolved. He said that during a program at Moga and Amritsar on December 26 & 30 issues related to Moga, Ferozepur, Faridkot, Mukatsar, Fazilka, Bathinda, Mansa and Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Pathankot and Tarn Taran districts will be covered.
Dhaliwal said that the basic facilities at the 15 NRI police stations will be improved. "Rs. 2 lakh will be given to every NRI Police Station and a total of Rs. 30 lakh will be released soon," he added.
The Cabinet Minister said that PCS Level officers will be deputed as nodal officers, who will resolve the issues and complaints of the concerned with the support of the district administration. He said that the State Government is committed to addressing the problems of the Punjabi Diaspora living across the globe. He said that the concerned Deputy Commissioner and SSP will be coordinated after any case came in light and immediately gave instructions to the concerned department in this regard.
Dhaliwal further said that the issue will be taken up with the Union Government to extend rights to NRI Punjabis to buy agricultural land in Punjab. Raising the question of why a migrant Punjabi cannot buy land, when he can sell the same in Punjab, the Cabinet Minister said that 50 per cent of cases of NRIs are related to marriage disputes, while 20 per cent are related to property. He said that the Punjab government is encouraging NRIs to invest in Punjab to boost the economy and the Punjab government is outrightly in favour of extending the right to them. He said that this is the right as well as the moral responsibility of every person to contribute to the progress of his native state and country.
On this occasion, Principal Secretary NRI Affairs Balamurugan, Commissioner Jalandhar Division-cum-Chairman NRI Sabha Punjab, Gurpreet Kaur Sapra, ADGP NRI Wing Praveen Kumar Sinha, Members of Punjab State Commission included G.S. Lehal, MP Singh, Hardeep Singh Dhillon and other Senior officials of NRI Affairs Department were present. (ANI)