Property, marital disputes prime concern highlighted by NRIs during meeting

Girjanand Prashar, a resident of Fatehgarh Sahib who is settled in the USA since 1975, told The Indian Express on Monday that he was embroiled in a property dispute for the last seven years. Delays at the bureaucratic level had only made things worse for him. “We feel harassed. First our own people have duped us. Then we had to face humiliation at the police stations and other offices. We are hopeful that these meets shall help to resolve our issues,” he said.

Harjinder Singh Sandhawalia, another USA-based NRI, who runs an NGO, said that they have urged the state government to set up fast track courts to deal with the cases of NRIs.

The other demands put forth by NRIs included issuance of arms licences for safety of people having OCI or Indian passports, government NRI tour packages with security, availability of agriculture land sale-purchase NOCs online, arrangement of buses from Terminal-3 of International Airport in Delhi to Chandigarh and Punjab, and appointing reputed NRIs as advisors to the state government.

A Canada-based NRI lawyer, Shingara Singh, said that they have taken up the complaints of NRIs with the Indian government and in the recent past there was an increase in number of complaints regarding matrimonial disputes that had been registered.

“Most of the complaints are related to issues of women dumping their husbands after coming on study visas. The Canadian government is too concerned about it too,” Shingara Singh said.

Punjab NRI affairs minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, who attended Monday’s meeting, said that the Punjab government was drafting a special policy to redress all problems related to social, economic and cultural background of migrant Punjabis in a timely manner. He added that the government will organise NRI meetings twice a year in the month of December and April to listen to the grievances of NRI Punjabis and find ways to tackle them.

“The government of Punjab welcomes all Punjabis living across the globe to come visit their state. Punjab is yours, the government of Punjab is committed to protect your lives and property and protect your business,” he said.
Monday’s event was attended by the NRIs from Mohali, Ropar, Fatehgarh Sahib and Patiala districts.

Mentioning the special initiative taken by the government, minister Dhaliwal said that the government has decided that migrant Punjabis should not have to visit government offices and offices of ministers. The government hasdecided that they will send representatives to the districts of migrant Punjabis and solve their problems at the spot.
He said that the government knew that the main issues of the NRIs are related with their immovable property, business and family disputes. “A new problem that is emerging now is that of contract marriages,where women clear IELTS and boys enter into agreements with such the family of such women and get married. The couple then move abroad to study and the marriage is dissolved, leading to resultant disputes,” he said.

The minister then told all NRI Punjabis settled abroad that if they had some case pending in Punjab, then they needn’t come to the state in-person just to resolve the same. He said that NRIs can represent their cases before the government through their relatives for speedy disposal.

On demand of fast track courts, the minister said that the government will try to establish special fast track courts for NRIs at the earliest so that the cases of migrant Punjabis are settled in minimum time. Regarding the difficulties faced by the migrant Punjabis while traveling abroad from India and problems of getting e-visa, he said that he will soon raise the issue with the Central government.

Dhaliwal said that nodal officers were being appointed by the Punjab government to listen to the grievances of NRIs at the district level and ensure timely redressal of their complaints.

The Punjab Cabinet minister also urged the NRIs to actively participate in NRI Milni programmes initiated by the Punjab government. He said that in the coming days, NRI meetings will be organized at Ludhiana on December 23, Moga on December 26 and Amritsar on December 30.