Government to play host to Punjabi-origin elderly NRIs visiting state

Rajmeet Singh

Chandigarh, August 11

The state government will run an initiative for Punjabi-origin senior citizens living abroad wherein the state government will play host to the visitors who will be taken to major historic and religious sites. The scheme, to be run by the NRI Affairs Department, will be for people above 60 years of age.

To Visit sites

• The boarding and lodging during the tour of the state will be borne by the state government.
• The guests would be visiting places like the Golden Temple, Takht Keshgarh Sahib, Virasat-e-Khalsa, Jallianwala Bagh and Wagah border.

The previous Capt Amarinder Singh led-Congress government had a ‘Connect With Your Roots’ programme for youngsters in the age group of 16 to 22 years. Sources said a budget of Rs 1.5 crore would be allocated annually for the scheme. Under the scheme, the department intends to organise 10 trips every year with each group comprising of 15 persons.

The persons will bear the expenses of reaching Punjab. The boarding and lodging during the state’s tour will be borne by the state government. The guests will be visiting places like Golden Temple, Takht Keshgarh Sahib, Virasat-e-Khalsa, Jallianwala Bagh and Wagah border.

The government is also working on a scheme to encourage NRIs to finance whole schemes related to infrastructure development in rural and urban areas. In some cases, those spending a certain amount on infrastructure upgrade of government educational institutions will be allowed to have the name of their ancestors at the sites.

Under the existing scheme of equal cost sharing (50 per cent each) by the NRI and state government, very few NRIs were coming forward. The state government wants to run both these schemes.