Vivian D'Souza needs to be commended for putting the work profile and/or the job of seeking some valid and useful answers to the NRI/NRG problems in Goa/India.
Haven't I said before that Vivian has a head on his shoulders? At the last NRI convention held at the Kala Academy, I had taken a print-out of Vivian's post on goanet where he had said that it would be more profitable and satisfying to attend the Goa Sudharop function at CARITAS, Panjim rather than attending the pochpochit (my word, not Vivian's) inaugural function of the NRIs at the Kala Academy. However, I did not get a suitable time/opportunity to read it out openly which I had decided to do. What Vivian has put together (the work list) is what I had in mind when I proposed at the Kala Academy that the NRIs have their own representative on the NRI (useless existing) Cell to make it more vibrant. Having Herculano Dourado (a literal 'pokhro'), Chandrakant Keni ( a burn out), Brigadier Ian D'Costa (the Indian military mentanlity) etc. on the NRI Cell was a set back for the NRIs as it was. It would make the NRI Cell more NRI oriented with their own rotating representative inside in the Cell. Now that the NRI Cell is defunct, it is just as well. The NRIs in Kuwait should weigh well their dinars and fils against spending on the defunct Cell members who are going to be visiting them at the Kuwaitkar's cost for going there for their own personal agendas rather than to find the solutions to the Kuwaitkar's problems. If at all, the Kuwaitkar's problems will increase ten folds where there are none so that the NRI Cell members justify their being there. It is better that the Kuwaitkars throw them out by giving them a very very cold shoulder even if the weather in Kuwait does not permit it to be so. The answers that Vivian has sought are the answers that the present NRI representative will have to find and display on their very own official website the 'NRI Goan Association' at www.gos500.com Floriano goasuraj check-out the Road Map for Goa at www.goasu-raj.org PS. If some guys like Jaime Rebello and others get the qualification as NRIs, do I get one for being all over the world, not just Dubai or Bahrein for most of my working and earning life??? ( BTW I am indeed in very good humor at this very moment and this could be taken as a joke??) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Vivian D'Souza" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, March 23, 2006 4:23 AM Subject: [Goanet] NRI Association in Goa > Can someone let me/all of us know the status of the planned NRI Association in > Goa ? I attended a meeting of NRIs in February at the Kala Academy, but had > to leave early. Later I heard that as an outcome of that meeting, an > Association of NRIs in Goa had been formed, with a certain leadership. Then I > heard that things had changed and there was a new leadership and the new > Association was to be launched at a prominent restaurant in Verna. > Then.......total SILENCE. > - > I alerted subscribers to the GOAN-NRI forum that plans were afoot to start > an association. I received several positive comments and requests to be > signed up as > members. Then we had a report from Floriano Lobo alleging yet another > (rival) attempt to form an NRI Association. > > Can we not get our act together. ? Having come to live in Goa I would like > to join other "returnees" like me, to network and to assist and inform each > other of the problems they have encountered when returning to Goa and how they > resolved them. > If we are united we can accomplish a lot, including interacting as a group > with the new > NRI Commissioner. Topics.issues for discussion include but are not limited > to the following: > > PIO (Person of Indian Origin) card vs Dual citizenship, the advantages and > disadvantages of one versus the other. How does it affect one's foreign > nationality. > > Retaining your NRI status when you come to Goa > > Customs regulations when bringing personal effects to Goa > > Income Tax on foreign income and local income > > Buying property, holding property through inheritance What is a form I & > XIV ? > > Getting a drivers license in Goa > > Purchasing a vehicle in Goa > > Strategies to remove legal or illegal tenants and encroachers from your > property > > Foreigners Registration, who needs to register, and why. > > Special priveleges accorded to senior citizens in India (discount on air and > rail fares for example). > > Medical and dental treatment in Goa/India, . > > Working or starting a business or NGO in Goa > > Establishing a NRI Village or Township in Goa, with amenities that NRIs have > gotten used to abroad. (I am not a proponent of such a scheme, but just > putting it out for discussion). > > Clearly, all of the above are important topics. Some of us having lived > here for a > while may have answers to some of them. Others may not have a clue. > Together we can seek answers, invite speakers, professionals to guide us. The > first step is to have a viable association. Before someone alleges that I am > trying to start a new NRI > Association. let me say categorically that I am not, nor do I aspire to > leadership in > any such association. All I want to see is a functioning NRI Association in > Goa that I can join and contribute my two paise worth. Can I have some > comments specially from NRI returnees in Goa ? > > Vivian A. D'Souza > >
