Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2017, annual global convention for the Indian diaspora, will focus on social innovators, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Monday.
The January 7 to 9 conclave to be held in Bangalore will be the first full-fledged festival of diaspora Indians under a new format adopted by the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2016.
The event will be attended by more than 4,000 delegates and high-power delegations from Mauritius, Malaysia and Qatar.
“Highlight of the PBD 2017 is social innovations by Indians. Twenty social innovations will be highlighted. There will also be a contest of innovators and the winner will get an award of ₹1 lakh,” said Secretary, Overseas Indian Affairs, Dhyaneshwar Mulay.
All sessions of the mega event will be in plenary format and will be interactive, which will allow delegates from overseas to convey their suggestions to the government directly.
“The sessions will focus on immigration and the role of diaspora organisations,” said Mr. Mulay. The idea behind the new format was to make the celebration more responsive to the problems faced by the Indian diaspora abroad. The highpoint of the event would be the award for the pravasi achievers (Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards) that will be conferred by President Pranab Mukherjee on January 9.
The current format of the PBD 2017, which was first announced by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj during the annual conference of 2016, generated interest as reports had indicated participation by delegates who trace their origin to Pak-occupied Kashmir.
Mr. Mulay on Monday, however, declined to confirm participation from the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan.
