India Consulate Chicago hosts ‘Pravasi Diwas’

Chicago, US: The Consulate General of India, Chicago, on January 8, hosted 'Pravasi Diwas' at the Consulate premises. 'Meet the Media' event was also organized on the occasion.

Addressing the gathering, the Consul General of India Dr. Ausaf Sayeed lauded the contribution of the Indian American Diaspora towards the overall development of India. He further urged them to engage with the Government of India through MyGov.in website and participate in the GOI's Flagship Programmes such as 'Make in India', 'Skills India', 'Swatch Bharat Abiyan', 'Digital India' and 'Green India'.

Freelance journalists, journalists from print and Audio-visual media organizations, community leaders, and representatives of major Indian-American socio-cultural organizations in the Greater Chicago had participated in the event.

Speaking about the activities of the Consulate planned for the year 2016, the Consul General stated that they would concentrate their efforts towards "strengthening the political, economic, cultural, educational, and people-to-people relationships between India and the US Midwest."

The Consulate is scheduled to undertake initiatives like the visit of trade delegations from US Midwest to 'Invest Karnataka-2016' to be held in Bengaluru and participation of business delegation in 'Make in India Week' to be organized in Mumbai.

The Consulate is also scheduled to organize 'Emerging Markets Conference' in May and 2nd US-India Healthcare Summit in June, this year. Apart from this, the Consulate will also involve itself in cultural activities like screening of the film 'India Awakes', and showcasing of Indian performing arts through "Kala Utsav 2016'.

Three local organizations, 'Pratham', 'Bharathi Theertha' and 'India Development Coalition of America' shared their experiences of working on socio-economic and developmental projects in India as part of the Parvasi Bhartiya Divas. A special message from the India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi for Vishwa Hindi Divas (World Hindi Day), which fell on January 10, was relayed to the audience.

Two new Consuls – Mr Desh Bandhu Bhati and Mrs. Rajeshwari Chandrasekaran were introduced to the Indian-American community by the Consul General. The event ended with a vote of thanks by Mr. OP Meena, Consul (Community Welfare).