: From reviewing the decision to make Malayalam mandatory for government jobs in the State to health insurance for expatriates, Non-Resident Keralites bared their demands in front of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy at the two-day Global NRK Meet that got underway in a city hotel on Friday.
A UAE-based Malayali urged the government to initiate health insurance coverage for expatriates as the cost of health care was high there. Mr. Chandy said that with it was not practical for the government to have such coverage for expatriates abroad.
As for the request to review the decision to make Malayalam mandatory, the Chief Minister said with even civil servants from other States made to learn Malayalam, it was better for the Malayali parents abroad to find a way, including speaking the language at home, to familiarise their children with the mother tongue.
Concerns of expatriates missing out on ration cards on failing the January 19 deadline were also raised. Complaint that many eligible NRKs expelled from Kuwait following the Iraq invasion were yet to get compensation was met with an unsympathetic response from the Minister for Norka K.C. Joseph, who said that the scope for compensation had long expired and was duly advertised in newspapers several times.
One of the delegates wanted the government to allot 100 acres in every district to a combine of expatriates for organic farming. To this, Mr. Chandy in his innate disarming way promised all support to the noble initiative except land. “Forget 100 acres, the government doesn’t even have 100 cents at its disposal in districts,” he said, invoking laugher among the audience.
The demand for land by a Sharjah-based school to open an institution for higher education was also shot down by the Chief Minister who observed that there was ample scope for NRKs to get their wards enlisted in professional colleges in the State either under the merit or the NRI quota.
