VIJAYAWADA: The AP Foreign Affairs Ministry and APNRT Society jointly held a meeting at Happy Resorts, Mangalagiri, to create awareness on the NRT policy, which was introduced for the welfare of foreign migrants.Minister for Youth Affairs Kollu Ravindra said that the government was concerned about the foreign migrants and hence brought this policy. “Issues of migrants, who are suffering in Gulf countries, will be resolved through NRT, by contacting the Indian embassy there. This will help the needy migrants,” president Vemuri Ravi said.Representatives of IOL, IOM and Women Associations attended the one-day programme. It was voiced at the meet that many Telugu migrants leaving for Gulf are unaware of minimum requirements.
There are around 25 lakh AP people residing overseas either for employment or education. It was estimated that 9 lakh migrants are in the Gulf, 8 lakh in the US and the remaining in Europe, Southeast Asia and African countries.“The State government treats APNRTS overseas as a natural extension of the populace living here and is keen to provide necessary support and assistance to the migrants,” Ravindra said.He said that the government plans to educate the migrants on safe and secure migration, including pre-migration training kits, socio-cultural awareness programmes, emergency assistance checklist, training on smartphones, migration assistance, loan guarantee, and skill training.
The Minister said that three major programmes have been proposed: Pravasandhra Helpline, Pravasandhara Bharosa and Pravasandhra Emergency Fund.
ILO representative Shika Sharma said that NRT would be a boon for people going to Gulf, the US and the UK.