'Hold elections of NRI Sabha Punjab'

Kapurthala, September 23

The NRI Samaj Sewa Sanstha on Friday demanded from the state government to hold the elections of the NRI Sabha Punjab. The members said the government and the officials must intervene to save the body from becoming defunct, especially since it had been seeing a fall for the past nearly 15 years.

NRI Samaj Sewa Sanstha, Chairman Jaswant Singh Bhandal, a NRI from Germany, blamed the NRI Sabha for not looking after the welfare of NRIs languishing in Punjab jails. He alleged that even the fast track courts set up to speed up justice for NRIs were not functioning properly.

The Sanstha chairman said a deputation of NRI Sanstha would meet Punjab Minister for NRI Affairs, Kuldip Singh Dhaliwal, to discuss the issues related to the NRIs and to restore their confidence in the state government so that they could contribute in the development of Punjab.

Bhandal alleged that the NRI Sabha had failed to convene any annual meeting of NRIs in Punjab for the past many years to redress their grievances. He said NRIs wanted to invest in Punjab but they were not getting support from the government.