NRI interest in hospitals is new but educational institutes have always enjoyed their patronage. Unlike hospitals, however, most of these are self-sustaining. Some have been built on sheer nostalgia. UK-based businessman Swaran Singh Rakkara of Rakkara Dhahan village near Nawanshehar, began with refurbishing a government school building at Sahiban village where he’d studied. Gurcaharan Singh Shergill, a UK-based NRI, donated Rs 1 crore for setting up Amardeep Singh Shergill Memorial College at Mukandpur in memory of his son, a student of the London School of Economics who died in 1992. Today, the college, spread over 23 acre, is known for its quality IT education. Lately, NRI institutes have also begun tying up with universities abroad. Says Canada-based NRI Lehmbar who set up the Guru Nanak Institute of Health Sciences and Research at Athouli village in 2003: ‘‘Our students will be able to practise abroad, for we have partnership with Bellinghum Technical College, Washington.’’ Schools are like Sahibzada Ajit Singh Senior Secondary School at Sarahali set up in 2001 are also promoting computer education among rural students. Gurpal Singh Sanwaran, a former sarpanch, and founding member of the school, now divides his time between Canada and India to keep the funds flowing. The chain of 21 Akal Academies, which offer a mix of modern education and religion, is also bankrolled by NRIs. The one at Bilga village in Jalandhar, for instance, came up when Gian Singh, a well-known cane grower of Australia, donated 17.5 acres of land for this academy in 1997. Government blockNONE of these NRIs, however, has a kind word for the government. Swaran Singh Rakkara, who’s lavished over Rs 25 lakh on his alma mater at Sahiba village, is unhappy over the indifferent attitude of the state government. ‘‘When they visit us abroad, they beg us to invest in Punjab, but when we come here, they don’t even want to give us directions let alone help us.’’
