The Union Minister for External Affairs and Overseas Indian Affairs, Smt. Sushma Swaraj and Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel today addressed a joint press conference on the forthcoming 13th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD)-2015, which is to be held from 7-9 January 2015 at Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

Following are the highlights of the press conference:

Sushma Swaraj:

It was the initiative by Atalji government to mark Pravasi Bharatiya Divas(PBD) every year. In January 2015, we will host 13th PBD. We have chosen 9 January for PBD, because on this day, Mahatma Gandhi returned to India. He was the best Pravasi Bharatiya, who not just came back to India, but also led the freedom movement here.

Every year on 9 January, our President attends PBD and honors Pravasi Bharatiya. Every year the Prime Minister inaugurates PBD. Every year CMs address PBD. We have kept these sessions intact. But as this is 100th year of Mahatma Gandhi’s home coming, we have planned some relevant sessions.

On 7 January, we are holding ‘Youth PBD’ involving children of NRIs and PIOs. We have specially arranged two sessions. One session will be ‘Bharat ko jaano’. It will showcase India’s warmth, hospitality, its journey of 5,000 years.

The other session will be ‘Bharat ko maano’. It will showcase today’s India that makes missiles, Mangal yaan.

For ‘Youth PBD’ we have selected four area-specific universities. They are petroleum, law, IT and entrepreneurship universities based in Gandhinagar. NRI/PIO youths will be divided in these four universities. They will interact with university students over dinner and cultural evening.

On 8 January, the Prime Minister will inaugurate PBD 2015. Our chief guest will be Guyanese president Donald Ramotar. As we are marking 100th year of Mahatma Gandhi’s home-coming, we have invited South African foreign minister to grace the occasion, confirmation of whom is awaited at this time.

On 9 January, Chief Ministers will come to interact with the participants. Chief Minister’s session will be held like always. Confirmations from 10 Chief Ministers – UP, Kerala, Nagaland, MP, Chhatisgarh, Rajasthan, Goa, Gujarat Haryana and Maharashtra are received. More CMs may convey their confirmation in future.

This time, we have organized a plenary session in which union ministers will appeal participants to support some initiatives of Government of India like namami Ganga, swachchata abhiyan, skill development, urban planning, smart cities and tourism. Union ministers from concerned departments will take part in this session.

Another session will be about achievers of Indian diaspora. Indian origin achievers from across the world will speak in this session.

There will be PBD oration by America based Arvind Sharma.

We expect 3,000 NRIs and PIOs to participate this event. PIOs are those who settled abroad decades back. NRIs are those who settled abroad in recent years. One session will be held for PIO countries that are called Girmitiya. Another session will be for Gulf countries where 70 lakh Indian are settled. Six ambassadors from Gulf countries will also take part in this session. For the first time, we are arranging one session for French speaking diaspora. The fourth session will be held on diaspora organizations and issues they face.

PBD has been earlier organized in the states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan. For 2015, Gujarat was the perfect choice to host this event.

© Copyright DeshGujarat. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of any DeshGujarat content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without their prior written consent.