Indore (Madhya Pradesh): The 17th edition of the Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas Convention (PBD), held between January 8 and 10 in Indore, left behind a trail of fond memories and the city was exposed to unique experiences.
With an aim to get a large number of members of the Indian diaspora, spread across the globe to Indore and make it a success, the members and leaders of over 26 chapters of Friends of MP (FoMP) worked relentlessly to make the high-profile meet a roaring success.
Ausaf Sayeed, secretary citizenship, passport and Visa & Overseas Indian Affairs (OIA), informed that over 3,500 people of the Indian Diaspora had registered for the PBD Convection.
It is a huge figure and what all did the FOMP do to get to this magic figure? The members of FOMP were on a hyper dive coupled with the pro-activism of Non-resident Indian (NRIs), who migrated from the state who made this meet a success. “Friends of MP” has chapters in over 27 counties and out of which 20 are extremely active. It may be noted that the FOMP chapters in New York, New Jersey, Chicago, UK, USA, Dubai, Singapore and Mauritius among other nations are extremely pro-active. Talking to Free Press, the leaders and members of FoMP, shared their secret mantra.
Akhilesh Laddha |
Sharing their efforts to get guests for the PBD Convention, Akhilesh Laddha, who hails from Ratlam and is also a member of FoMP from New Jersey said with Indore at the centre stage of the PBD, we had our jobs cut out and the zeal to do something special for our home town made us trek that extra mile. I hardsold Indore to the NRIs to convince them to participate. We held several meetings with NRIs and the chapters of other states in coordination with officials of the Indian Mission in the US. Over 200 NRIs arrived from the US.
Ravi Bhusan Jaswania |
Ravi Bhusan Jaswania, FOMP member of the Dubai Chapter, also hails from Indore. He said with the help of Indian consul-general in UAE, Aman Puri, we launched a motivational drive for the PBD. It was decided to convince the youth from Dubai for the Youth PBD. The members of the FoMP also mapped and tried to contact each and every NRI residing in the UAE and motivate them as to why they should visit the 17th PBD Convention in Indore. Following rigorous efforts, around 350 NRIs from the UAE participated.
