Dr. Thomas Abraham, Dr. Joy Cherian among 12 given Samman Awards

Dr. Ponniseril Somasundaran

Dr. Thomas Abraham, chairman of GOPIO, and Dr. Joy Cherian, the first Asian to be appointed to a sub-cabinet position in the US Government, were among the 12 distinguished Non Resident Indians, who were conferred with the prestigious Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award by the President of India for outstanding contributions to their home countries and to relations with India on the last day the sixth annual Pravasi Bharatiya Divas held in New Delhi, India. Dr Thomas Abraham was given the award for his vision, and for creating a network of organizations that are now united across the globe, through GOPIO and several other organizations, he had helped found. Dr. Abraham had organized the first convention of People of Indian Origin in New York.

Dr. Joy Cherian (PhD in International business law) was the first Asian American and first Indian American Commissioner at the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commmision (EEOC). He was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1987 in what was seen as a milestone. At the time he was the highest ranking Indian American in the US government. Appointed by a Republican, but showing true unity of Indian Americans across political boundaries. After serving his time as commissioner he founded and is the President of a consulting firm, J. Cherian Consultants, Inc. (JCC) and did speaking engagements for organizations such as the GOPIO

The other distinguished Pravasi Bharatiyas who were honored with the Samman Awards were: Dr. the Hon. Navinchandra Ramgoolam, Prime Minister of Mauritius, was cited as a leader with genuine concern for the disadvantaged sections of society and for nurturing and strengthening the bonds between Mauritius and India; Neville Joseph Roach, chairman of TCS-FNS, was honoured for effectively advocating the cause of India and PIO in Australia; Dr Ravi Pillai was conferred the award for being one of the largest employers of Indians abroad and for welfare projects in India; APS Mani was recognized for his pioneering work in community welfare in Japan;

Judge Ajit Swaran Singh received the honor for actively facilitating new migrants from India to settle in New Zealand; Rafiudin S. Fazulbhoy was awarded for his work in the field of education in Jeddah for children of Indian origin and service to Haj pilgrims; Bicky Chakraborty was honoured for his work in India and Sweden as a philanthropist; The National Council of Indian Culture (Trinidad and Tobago) has been instrumental in creating awareness of Indian heritage among people of Indian descent; Krishnamurthy Kumar was recognized for his work on Indian diversity and religious harmony in the UAE; Lord Karan Billimoria, Chairman of the Indo-British Partnership, has pitched for closer and deeper business relations between India and the UK.

"Pravasi Bharatiya Divas signifies the homecoming of the Indian diaspora", said Pratibha Devisingh Patil, President of India, while addressing the Valedictory session of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas organized jointly by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Government of NCT of Delhi and the Confederation of Indian Industry.

In the face of the increasing income gap in the world of free markets and globalization, Smt Patil applauded the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas's attempt to focus on issues of social development, rural entrepreneurship, women empowerment and urged the diaspora forum to "transform and implement" the ideas and partnerships that have emerged from the various sessions of the two day conference.

Emphasizing the fact that "social development is vital for stable growth", the President of India asked overseas Indians to contribute to their motherland in terms of education, healthcare, rural entrepreneurship, infrastructure projects etc. as much more remains to be done in these areas of growth. She said that the Indian diaspora has become a significant "socio economic, cultural and political force in the world" and they should work on keeping up this image of the Indians abroad.

Vayalar Ravi, Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs, in his address said that the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas marks "a watershed in the relationship between India and the diaspora". Ravi said that the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas has "gone beyond the narrow boundaries" of investments, business networking and treaded the path of social development with knowledge, philanthropy, culture, women empowerment, rural entrepreneurship engaging the diaspora over the past couple of days. Ravi also said that his ministry will work on for the implementation of the India Development Foundation, establishing of the Global Advisory Council of the PIOs, PIO University as recommended by the Prime Minister of India.

Education and healthcare are major agendas of the Government, especially for rural areas, continued the Minister. Other issues that were addressed during the conference are women empowerment through microfinance and child welfare. Investments and business engagement sessions are also part of the program, briefed the Minister. As the issues of overseas Indians differ from region to region, working sessions for Gulf, Asia-Pacific, Africa, Europe, and Americas were also held. "I believe this PBD will give NRIs the opportunity to become a partner and participate for rural areas in India," the Minister concluded.

Earlier, The Prime Minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singh, inaugurated the convention and launched the Overseas Workers Resource Center (OWRC), a helpline for emigrant workers, and announced several measures for the welfare of NRIs. Twelve Union Ministers and six Ministers from overseas took part in the proceedings. Among the luminaries who addressed the convention were: Dr.Thomas Abraham, Chairman, GOPIO Inc, USA; Dato Seri Samy Vellu, Cabinet Minister of Works and President, Malaysian Indian Congress; Madan Murlidhar Dulloo, Foreign Minister, Mauritius, Lord Karan Billimoria, CBE, Founder & Chairman, Cobra Beer Ltd, UK; and Vijay Eswaran, Group Managing Director, Qi Group, Hong Kong. Key initiatives of the PBD included the Marketplace by the Overseas Indian Facilitation Center for business promotion, and exhibitions by 17 states and 50 private exhibitors.