Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 2 (IANS) Kerala will present its progress card on what it has done for the diaspora and then ask for the centre's help for its plans, Diaspora Minister K.C.Joseph said Friday.
Joseph will be part of a Kerala delegation at the Pravasti Bhartiya Divas (PBD) to be held in Gujarat capital Gandhinagar from January 7 to 9.
Joseph Chief Minister Oommen Chandy would lead the delegation and there would be a Kerala Pavilion at the three-day event which will showcase "our advantages to the visiting diaspora".
"See, Kerala is probably the only state that has led from the front to support its diaspora, whenever there arose an occasion. There are limitations for a state and currently we have launched a rehabilitation package for those who have returned from the Middle-East. It's here we seek the Centre to support us financially when we draw up special schemes," the minister told IANS.
Of the 23.63 lakh Keralites who went abroad, 90 percent are in various Middle-East countries. Close to 13 lakhs have returned from these countries.
According to the latest figures from the State Level Bankers Committee, the total remittances made by the Kerala diaspora to the banks here has crossed Rs.1 lakh crores.
"The chief minister will be speaking on January 9 at the chief minister's session. He will touch upon the issue of giving necessary sanction for our proposal to start our own airline- Air Kerala and also on the hefty air fares being charged by airlines operating to the Middle-East," Joseph said.
According to the minister, the Kerala government is perhaps the only state government which recently has come out with a financial assistance package for the members of diaspora who have returned.
"We along with two public sector banks have launched a self employment scheme and by now more than 20,000 people have applied for it. The maximum cap on loans would be Rs. two million and the Kerala government would offer a 10 percent subsidy to all those who begin an enterprise in the agriculture, trading, manufacturing or the service sectors," he said.
Joseph, who would present Kerala's progress card in the Gulf Session, scheduled for January 9, also said: "The Kerala Pavilion will showcase investment opportunities for the visitors and tourism, IT would be the key areas."
New Delhi, Feb 13 (IANS) The AAP is all set to take power in Delhi but its online donations are
UP: Unique start for doubling farmers' income, the money will be given instead of residues
Lucknow: On the initiative of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, there has been a unique beginning t
PM Modi targeted SP: Said - Mafia kept on apologizing in UP, mafiaists are suffering
PM Modi laid the foundation stone of Government Medical College in Kushinagar district. Along wit
Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora is elated over the successful completion of the G-20 summit due
Actor Sanjay Dutt, one of the veteran actors of the Bollywood industry, is in discussions these d
Russia-Ukraine war: 353 Ukrainian children killed so far, Ukraine kills 38,300 Russian soldiers
The war between Russia and Ukraine, which started on February 24, has been going on for 5 months,
The country's death toll has crossed 24 lakh. Within the last 24 hours, most patients in the worl
Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone are shooting for their upcoming film 'Pathan' in Spain. The c
Bengal a failed state: Physicist Bikash Sinha
Kolkata, Jan 3 (IANS) Eminent Indian physicist Bikash Sinha Saturday strongly criticised the cu
There is bad news for the passengers traveling by air their travel expenses are going to increase
