STATEMENT BY EDUARDO FALEIRO, COMMISSIONER FOR NRI AFFAIRS AT HIS PRESS BRIEFING (August 12, 2008)
I was in Toronto (Canada) from July 25-31. The purpose of my visit was to inaugurate the annual Global Goans Convention. You may recall that we had decided that this yearly event should be held by rotation in different countries where there is a significant population of Goan expatriates so that it may permit participation of all those who for different reasons are not able to come to Goa and also provide for greater involvement of our expatriates on this occasion. Last year the Convention was held in Portugal. On the sidelines of the Convention, I discussed with the Goan organizations modalities for redressal of grievances of non-resident Goans. It was decided that Goan organizations should nominate one representative based in Goa for each country with substantial Goan population and he/she should submit the grievances of Goan expatriates to our office. Our office will then forward the complaints to the concerned Departments and expect redressal within a month. When this is not possible we will issue a status report every month to the concerned individual indicating the progress in the settlement of his grievance until the matter is finally resolved. We propose to unite all Goan organizations outside Goa, whether elsewhere in India or abroad, under one global network based in Goa. The representatives of all such Goan organizations will be involved in this project and we intend to set up the Global Goans Office in Panaji by next December. In Toronto, I had a meeting with Hon. Harinder Takkar, Minister for Small Business and Consumer Affairs in that Government. Mr. Takkar did his education in India and then migrated to Canada where he became a successful businessman and is now in Government. We noted the tremendous economic progress of India and discussed modalities for involving NRIs in this process. Mr. Takkar felt that NRIs who have distinguished themselves particularly in the technological and economic fields should be co opted as members of Boards and Corporations in India so that their expertise would benefit the country and the different States of India. There would be no particular burden on the Government in-as-much-as only those who come regularly to India and who can afford to be here at their own cost would be nominated and they would then interact with the concerned Board or Corporation whenever they are in India or, in our case, in Goa. This is a suggestion which deserves sympathetic consideration from our Government. We had signed a contract with the Centre for Development Studies (CDS) of Kerala for conducting a Goa Migration Monitoring Study. The Centre is the foremost agency in India on Migration Studies. The purpose of the Study is to collect data on migration from Goa and analyse its impact on the social and economic situation of our State. The Study will contain reports on the following twelve subjects: (i) Demograply of Goa; (ii) Migration from Goa; a historical overview; (iii) Internal Migration: census analysis; (iv) Population characteristics of sample households; (v) International migration estimates; trends and patterns; (vi) Causes, costs and financing of migration; (vii) Estimates of remittances and their utilization;(viii) Impact of migration on Education and Health; (ix) Consumption and investment behaviour in Goa; (x) Migration and women; (xi) Migration and the elderly; (xii) Rehabilitation of return Emigrants. The Goa Migration Monitoring Study will also include a section on Goan migration from the historical perspective. This section will recreate the past Goan context, social, historical, geographical and political to situate and explain Goan migration. It will focus mainly on the following regions where Goans migrated: Mumbai and Karachi, East Africa, Portugal, U.K. Myanmar, Macau, Middle East, U.S.A and Canada. This section is being prepared by the Xavier Centre of Historical Studies. The work is proceeding as per schedule. The CDS has selected 6000 households across the State on random sampling for survey and interviewing. 4000 households have already been surveyed, the inmates interviewed and collection of similar data regarding the remaining 2000 households will be completed in the course of this month. Editing and analysis of the data has already begun. The Preliminary Report will be submitted by CDS end October and the Final Report in November next. (Ends)
