To deal promptly with the issues and grievances of the Punjabi Diaspora, the Punjab Government is organizing ‘NRI Punjabiyan Nal Milni’ to listen to and redress their complaints. The programs, five in the series, will be held at Jalandhar, SAS Nagar (Mohali), Ludhiana, Moga, and Amritsar on December 16, 19, 23, 26, and 30 respectively.

“The issues and complaints of NRI Punjabis will be resolved promptly as well as on the spot during these meetings,” said the state NRI Commission, NRI Sabha, Punjab NRI Affairs Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal after a review meeting with NRI Affairs Department on Tuesday.

Dhaliwal said that the issues of NRIs, belonging to Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, SBS Nagar, and Kapurthala will 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 the spot.

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; while during a program at Moga and Amritsar on December 26 and 30, issues related to Moga, Ferozepur, Faridkot, Mukatsar, Fazilka, Bathinda, Mansa and Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Pathankot and Tarn Taran districts will be covered.

“The basic facilities at the 15 NRI police stations will be improved, and Rs two lakh will be given to every NRI Police Station and a total of Rs 30 lakh will be released soon,” said the Minister.

The 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. “The State Government is committed to address the issues of Punjabi Diaspora living across the globe,” he said.

The concerned Deputy Commissioner and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) will be coordinated after any case came in light and immediately gave instructions to the concerned department in this regard, he said.

Dhaliwal added 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 Minister said that 50 percent of cases of NRIs are related to marriage disputes, while 20 percent are related to property. “Punjab Government is encouraging NRIs to invest in the State to boost its economy and the Government is outrightly in favour of extending the right to them. This is the right as well as the moral responsibility of every person to contribute for the progress of his native state and country,” he added.