NRIs urged to set up industrial units

GURDASPUR, Nov 24: In the first meeting of the NRIs and members of their families from Gurdaspur district, the local unit of the NRI Sabha, ...

GURDASPUR, Nov 24: In the first meeting of the NRIs and members of their families from Gurdaspur district, the local unit of the NRI Sabha, Punjab, was formed at Panchayat Bhawan here today. Presiding over the meeting, Commissioner Jalandhar Division B.K. Srivastava gave a call to the NRIs from Punjab to set up industrial units in the state and assured them full assistance.

The Commissioner said that the Punjab government was likely to pass an ordinance soon to secure the properties of the NRIs in their absence. He said that in police cases, the NRIs should contact Superintendent of Police (headquarter) who had been entrusted special duty towards them. He said that with the formation of the Gurdaspur unit of the NRI Sabha, the number of such units had risen to six.

Srivastava, who is the architect of the NRI Sabha, Punjab, said that a state-level meeting of the NRIs would be held every year on the Sunday before Lohri.

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He lauded their contribution in the development of the state. He said that a bridge was built by a prominent NRI on a cho, at a cost of Rs 37 lakh, in Hoshiarpur district. Guru Nanak Mission Hospital Jalandhar was also being run by an NRI, Srivastava said. Inviting more investments in developmental works, Srivastava said that 25 per cent of the total cost of such projects undertaken by the NRIs would be provided by the state government. Speaking on the occasion, Jaswinder Singh Saini, an NRI, said that he with the help of other NRIs would set up a hi-tech industry in Gurdaspur district within a year. Deputy Commissioner S.K. Sandhu said that the district administration would soon bring out a directory containing the telephone numbers, foreign and local addresses of the NRIs from the district.

SSP Batala Lok Nath Angra and Gurdaspur SP (Headquarter) Gurpreet Deo also addressed the meeting and assured all possible help to the NRIs.