In a bid to reach out to Indians residing abroad, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday launched a new flagship scheme — the Pravasi Teerth Darshan Yojana wherein Indian diaspora aged between 45-65 can undertake a tour of religious places across the country and reconnect with their roots. With Railways and the Centre on board, it will be government-sponsored tour that will be undertaken twice a year. The first batch of 40 Indian-origin people currently attending the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Varanasi will begin their tour in the next few days.
"They will be taken to religious places of all major religions in India and the government will bear all the expenses, including the airfare from their country of residence," official sources said. "All people of Indian-origin aged 45-65 can apply and a group will be selected out of them with first preference given to people from 'Girmitiya countries' such as Mauritius, Fiji, Suriname, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and Jamaica," they added.
Inaugurating the 15th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, PM Modi said that NRIs can play a great role in start ups and in defence manufacturing sectors while working for the development of India. Speaking about the welfare of Indians overseas, Modi said passport and visa rules have been simplified and e-visa had made it much easier for them to travel. "Our embassies and consulates are being connected to the Passport Seva Project worldwide," he said. "This will prepare a centralized system connected to the passport service for all of you," he added. "Going one step ahead, work is on for issuing of the chip-based e-passport."
Modi also said India is in a position to lead the world on many issues and cited the International Solar Alliance as an example. "Through this, we want to take the world towards One World, One Sun, One Grid," he said.
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