THE Minister of Overseas People of Indian Origin Minister Affairs (MOIA) Vayalar Ravi held an interactive session with several Guyanese at the Indian Consulate in Manhattan at a luncheon on Sunday. The meeting was hosted by the Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO), in collaboration with several other community organisations and groups. Gopio is led by Berbician Ashook Ramsaran. President Ramsaran welcomed Minister Ravi thanking him for taking time out of his busy schedule to listen to the concerns of PIOs.

Ramsaran reminisced about the long and enduring partnership between MOIA and GOPIO, strengthening the bonds in the global Indian Diaspora, notable achievements of the MOIA-GOPIO collaboration, and GOPIO’s outreach efforts to connect all of the Indian Diaspora.
While visiting several tables, Minister Ravi told the Guyanese contingent “they are his favourite friends” praising them for retaining their Indian heritage and inviting them to come to Delhi for the annual Pravasi Divas. This was the latest of many interactions that Minister Ravi had with Guyanese and other Indo-Caribbeans. Guyanese Americans have been lobbying Indian government officials since the restoration of democracy in 1992 for a variety of benefits for their former homeland. This has led to an increase in financial assistance, cancellation of debts, granting of loans to Guyana, as well as an increase in scholarships for Guyanese students, and collaboration on a variety of projects. Vishnu Bisram as well as others lobbied behind the scenes for President Donald Ramotar to be the Chief Guest at Pravasi in January. Former President Bharrat Jagdeo was Chief Guest in 2004 following the lobbying of the BJP government by this writer and others, a visit that led to a package of benefits for Guyana including the construction of the national stadium. I visited India numerous times using the opportunity to advocate for assistance to Guyana.
Minister Ravi told the gathering he was on his way to Quebec to sign an agreement regarding Indian nationals. He said he could have gone directly to Quebec via Toronto where Air India flies but decided to come to New York to engage the Indian diaspora including the Caribbean Indian community. Whenever Minister Ravi visited New York, he has made it his duty to interact with the Caribbean Indian diaspora. The minister made a pitch for people to attend Pravasi Bharatiya Divas PBD 2014 which will be held in Delhi from Jan 7 through 9.
Questions were posed to Minister Ravi about various issues including on visa, PIO University, PIO card, Overseas Indian card that confers a variety of benefits on Indians in the diaspora including to study in India. The minister told the gathering whenever there was a problem brought to his attention it gets sorted out within 24 to 48 hours. The issue of Caribbean students studying in India as well as long distance education (via the web) at Indian universities was raised by Vishnu Bisram. Minister Ravi said that the matter falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education and that it is a difficult issue especially that there are quotas for foreign students. Queried about the PIO University that was supposed to be built for overseas Indian students, he said he has reached a roadblock as the Ministry of Education has not granted permission for the project.
The Guyanese contingent expressed their gratitude to the minister for spending some time with them and listening to their concerns about the Caribbean Indian diaspora in America.

VISHNU BISRAM