US-based NRIs to visit Patna

PATNA: Efforts to lure NRIs to invest in creating infrastructure in Bihar may not have had the desired effect. However, the consistency of CM Nitish Kumar to attend the Pravasi Bharatiya meets appears to have convinced some NRIs to do something for the state.

A delegation of the American India Foundation (AIF) will be visiting Bihar on January 21 to see if more funds could be pumped into the state for welfare work. The Bihar-bound delegation consists of NRIs who had attended the Pravasi Bhartiya meet in Delhi recently.

The AIF was formed in 2001 by NRIs residing in the US and it has raised over US $ 45 million ever since its interception besides mobilising NRIs to do something for their motherland. The foundation is working on projects related to health care, women empowerment, livelihood and education. It has also sought to bridge the "digital divide" by providing computers, internet and training to undersourced schools. The foundation has already been funding a few NGOs and has shown interest in expanding its activities in Bihar.

The delegation scheduled to visit Bihar will include AIF’s president Lata Kishnan, foundation president and executive director Pradeep Kashyap. The delegation will also consist of NRIs who head corporate institutions in the US like Ravi Akhaury and Ram P Tukkaram.

"There are also some Bihari NRIs who have risen very fast on the corporate ladder in the state and are eager to do something for their home state," said Mohit Ahuja, who is co-ordinating the visit of the delegation. The delegation is expected to meet CM Nitish Kumar and senior Bihar officials apart from having an interactive session with social activists of the state.

The attempts of the state government to attract NRIs to invest in the state has been a frustrating one, thus far. The NRIs meet in Patna in 1995 and the Global Meet held last year has not had much of an impact. NRIs wanting to invest in Bihar have aired their frustration over red tape in clearance of their proposals.