NEW DELH, June 22 2004
IANS

India will post senior officials to Gulf countries to resolve problems faced by NRIs there, especially the blue-collar workers, says Jagdish Tytler, the minister for non-resident Indian affairs.

"We will see to it that non-resident Indians in the Gulf have a godfather there to look after their interests," he said.

"We have the embassies there and they are doing a good job, but probably they are overburdened with work," Tytler told IANS.

The minister said the newly established ministry of non-resident Indian affairs was aware of the problems faced by Indian workers in the Gulf region, especially those in semi-skilled jobs.

"The appointment of senior officials from my ministry will be something where non-resident Indians can directly coordinate with my ministry with the help of the Indian embassies there," he said.

"They will have a home to go to in a foreign country," Tytler added.

"My ministry will coordinate with all the departments concerned to see that their stay in the Gulf is comfortable and nobody is harassed unnecessarily."

The minister said that Indians in Gulf countries could also benefit from his ministry's proposal to set up special economic zones in every state in India.

"The Gulf has some very rich Indians who would like to come and invest and they are doing it," he said. "I want to tell our people that now you have someone to take care of your troubles here."

According to him, those intending to invest in India need not go to various ministries and departments for clearances.

"When they go out looking for land, when they go looking for somebody to liasie with the government, when they start looking for agents to see that their water connections are cleared, there is someone," he said.

"Here is an economic zone where you have an administrator who has the power to clear everything under the sun," he added.

Tytler said the first set of special economic zones would come up in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, followed by Kerala, Rajasthan and Punjab.

"I had a meeting with the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh and I had a meeting with the chief minister of Maharashtra in this regard," Tytler said.

"The next meeting is with Kerala, then Gujarat and Punjab, which have a concentration of a base from where Indians have gone abroad," he said.