The Federation of Indian Students of Australia (Fisa) today urged the Centre and the Andhra Pradesh government to take more proactive measures to prevent racist attacks on Indian students Down Under and for their general well-being.
With an aim to benefit the Indian students, Fisa has proposed to the Centre to provide insurance cover, legal help and set up a resource centre that would serve as a one-stop-shop for the students, Gautam Gupta, chair of advisory board of Fisa, told reporters here today.
The Central government is looking into the proposals, he said.
Gupta met state minister for NRI affairs D Sridhar Babu here today and requested him to conduct an orientation programme for Andhra students who wish to study in Australia and also set up a database of students from the state.
The total number of Indian students in Australia could be approximately 97,000 out of which 25% of them would be from Andhra Pradesh, he said.
As many as 1447 attacks took place in Victoria state in the past one year, he added.
To a query, Gupta said that the Australian authorities lacked accountability in dealing with the attacks on Indian students.
Fisa has about 10,000-15,000 members, he said.
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