Rescuing Every Distressed Indian Overseas (REDIO), an organisation that was launched last year to work with Indian missions overseas and volunteers in countries with large populations of non-resident Indians (NRIs), people of Indian origin (PIOs) and overseas citizens of India (OCIs), has now launched a chapter in the US.
Former Indian diplomat and member of the National Human Rights Commission, Dr Dnyaneshwar Mulay, launched the US chapter of REDIO, along with New York-based social activist Prem Bhandari on Sunday, on the occasion of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, the annual event celebrated by the ministry of external affairs for Indians overseas, held virtually this year. Mulay is the founder of the organisation and its chief patron in the US while Bhandari will serve as chairman.
“Overseas Indians, who are now over 30 million in numbers, hold important positions in academia, business, media, arts, culture, politics and many other spheres. The mobility is high among Indians and often many of them face problems and distress related to issues of immigration, employment, political upheaval in other countries, legal issues, property issues back in India or marital discord. Indian workers in the Gulf countries have their own set of problems and have sometimes faced abuse and injustice,” Mulay said while launching the US chapter in New York.
He added that while there were several Indian diaspora organisations in various countries and the Indian government was doing extraordinary work to help Indians overseas with their problems and grievance redressal, REDIO would help to bring together efforts by civil society to stand by those Indians overseas who are less privileged to complement government efforts. “This is an initiative that aims to have support groups in every country and through our networks we hope to reach out to all NRIs, PIOs and OCIs who need help. We have received a huge response already from the Indian community in 20 countries with several people joining in to help on a voluntary basis. In the long run we hope this will become a structured initiative with synergy among Indians around the world so that we can support the Indian diaspora not just with haphazard efforts during emergency situations but on an ongoing basis,” Mulay added.
The efforts, according to him, will be to support Indians around the world who are less privileged by tapping into the community’s social, political and cultural strengths.
“There are times when members of the overseas Indian community face problems and are not able to reach the government back home. In many cases, members of the Indian community help them out unofficially through their contacts and networks; REDIO will now give these efforts a formal shape. The initiative is already operational in some countries and has been successful in supporting members of the Indian diaspora,” Bhandari said. He added that the ministry of external affairs’ Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF), a resource that was managed by the Indian missions overseas, could be better utilised to help NRIs, PIOs and OCIs who were facing distress.
Former Indian diplomat and member of the National Human Rights Commission, Dr Dnyaneshwar Mulay, launched the US chapter of REDIO, along with New York-based social activist Prem Bhandari on Sunday, on the occasion of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, the annual event celebrated by the ministry of external affairs for Indians overseas, held virtually this year. Mulay is the founder of the organisation and its chief patron in the US while Bhandari will serve as chairman.
“Overseas Indians, who are now over 30 million in numbers, hold important positions in academia, business, media, arts, culture, politics and many other spheres. The mobility is high among Indians and often many of them face problems and distress related to issues of immigration, employment, political upheaval in other countries, legal issues, property issues back in India or marital discord. Indian workers in the Gulf countries have their own set of problems and have sometimes faced abuse and injustice,” Mulay said while launching the US chapter in New York.
He added that while there were several Indian diaspora organisations in various countries and the Indian government was doing extraordinary work to help Indians overseas with their problems and grievance redressal, REDIO would help to bring together efforts by civil society to stand by those Indians overseas who are less privileged to complement government efforts. “This is an initiative that aims to have support groups in every country and through our networks we hope to reach out to all NRIs, PIOs and OCIs who need help. We have received a huge response already from the Indian community in 20 countries with several people joining in to help on a voluntary basis. In the long run we hope this will become a structured initiative with synergy among Indians around the world so that we can support the Indian diaspora not just with haphazard efforts during emergency situations but on an ongoing basis,” Mulay added.
The efforts, according to him, will be to support Indians around the world who are less privileged by tapping into the community’s social, political and cultural strengths.
“There are times when members of the overseas Indian community face problems and are not able to reach the government back home. In many cases, members of the Indian community help them out unofficially through their contacts and networks; REDIO will now give these efforts a formal shape. The initiative is already operational in some countries and has been successful in supporting members of the Indian diaspora,” Bhandari said. He added that the ministry of external affairs’ Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF), a resource that was managed by the Indian missions overseas, could be better utilised to help NRIs, PIOs and OCIs who were facing distress.
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