The Greater Washington Telugu Cultural Sangam (GWTCS) has urged the Andhra Pradesh government to establish a grievance redressal mechanism for the Telugu community living abroad, adding that the Punjab government has taken proactive steps in this regard.
Bulleiah Choudary Unnava, an NRI of Guntur origin who lives in Washington, D.C., along with Krishna Lam, president of GWTCS, and other members, submitted a memorandum to Kondapalli Srinivas, Minister for NRI Affairs during the latter’s visit to Washington, D.C. to attend the Sangham’s 50th anniversary on September 27 and 28.
The Minister, as per sources, assured that he would try to resolve NRI issues.
Mr. Bulleiah Choudary told The Hindu that the NRIs have various grievances in Andhra Pradesh, like safeguarding their properties, land-related disputes, matrimonial disputes, duping by travel agents and harassment by foreign employers and others. He said that if the government could establish dedicated courts for fast-tracking NRI disputes, it would help them dispose of the cases easily. He also suggested that designated police officers or an NRI police station per district would help in reaching out and getting justice for the NRIs, as they come and stay for a short duration.
He also added that the police should accept the digital complaints from the NRIs and investigate instead of insisting that they physically attend to submit the complaints and other evidence.
In the memorandum given to the Minister, the NRIs explained: “The Punjab government is already implementing certain special rules for NRIs services. The attestation of various documents of the NRIs is completed within a day. There is an effective grievance redressal mechanism for safeguarding properties, land disputes, matrimonial disputes, duping students and employees by travel agents and others.”
Mr. Bulleiah informed that the Punjab State Commission for NRIs was established by an Act to resolve the problems faced by NRIs in 2011. They established 13 NRI police stations, fast-track revenue courts, and special civil courts, as well as amended the Punjab Urban Rent Control Act to allow the early eviction of tenants from properties owned by NRIs.
The Telugu NRIs also suggested that the Andhra Pradesh government could bring an Act to protect youth from migration-related frauds, harassment, human trafficking and smuggling.
Published - September 30, 2024 06:47 pm IST
