BENGALURU: Prioritising issues related to NRIs and concerns over them becoming the target of fraud and cheating figured in the Legislative Council on Tuesday with JDS MLC BM Farooq pointing out that a 1.3 crore strong diaspora from Karnataka is living abroad and seeking a separate department in Telangana and Kerala to look into their issues. He said the government should look into the NRIs’ concern over remote voting and other issues.
Minister for Minor Irrigation, Science & Technology Bose Raju and Cooperation Minister KN Rajanna said they will inform CM Siddaramaiah and a decision by the government is expected on Wednesday.
The state already has an NRI Forum, headed by Arathi Krishna, which has limited powers. But Kerala has a full fledged department which has a legal wing and is armed with powers to help NRIs, Farooq said. He said he received a memorandum from the Kannadiga NRI community to work on reintegrating Gulf returnees by providing them financial assistance, channelising their resources and expertise and helping them set up projects, ventures and enterprises in Karnataka.
Bose Raju pointed out that children of expats are treated as resident students for entrance tests for medical, management, engineering and other professional courses.