By Shubha Singh, IANS
As one drives down one of the rural roads in Jalandhar district, or almost anywhere in the Doaba region of Punjab, it will not be long before one comes across a towering gate on the outskirts of a village. Large memorial gates built in memory of one’s parents or some other similarly deserving people have been one of the hallmarks of NRI (non-resident Indian) contribution to the home village.
But in recent years, NRI contributions have moved from the ubiquitous memorial gates dotting the countryside and sports festivals to developmental projects like schools, hospitals and village infrastructure.
There has been a spurt in philanthropic contributions from overseas Punjabis for religious and development purposes in their native villages in the past five years. A survey conducted in the Doaba region of Punjab has shown that overseas Punjabis have almost doubled their contributions to the home villages in the last five years.
A survey conducted by a Jalandhar-based organisation, Vichar Manch, in 2002 of 477 villages located in seven tehsils of the Doaba region showed that NRIs had contributed more than Rs.2 billion in the 477 villages, which is about Rs.4 million per village. A second survey conducted in December 2007 of 28 villages out of the 477 villages surveyed earlier showed startling changes in the pattern and amount of contribution made by the overseas Indians. The total amount of foreign contribution to the 28 villages till 2002 was Rs.140 million, but in five years those villages had received Rs.115 million. Not only had the amount increased enormously, the purpose of the contribution had shifted from largely religious donations to developmental works.
The initial contributions were mainly for religious places, later memorial gates and sports festivals became popular among NRIs, as both festivals and gates attracted attention and were a visible proof that the émigré had prospered in his new life. In the Aur block, almost Rs.8.6 million were spent for sports tournaments while the Phagwara block had Rs.6.3 million spent on memorial gates by 2002. But in the following years, NRIs have been contributing for setting educational institutions, dispensaries, hospitals, crematoriums, sports stadiums, street lighting, sanitation, and clean drinking water projects.
Till 2002, almost 96 percent of the contributions were religious donations, though several hospitals and educational institutions were also constructed by religious leaders who collected donations from the NRI community. By 2007, in 18 of the 28 villages surveyed the contributions for developmental work far exceeded religious donations. According to Satnam Chana of Vichar Manch, the NRIs have learnt from Western influence on the pattern of philanthropic donations and their own changing preferences. “The NRIs are more active and aware now, they feel money is wasted in unproductive projects, such projects have become mere monuments of their ego. That is why they have started considering the usefulness of the project.”
In recent years, there has been a move towards planned contributions that have led to bigger projects being taken up. The gram panchayat and development committees in villages have identified projects that the village needs and sought funds from NRIs belonging to that region. Alternatively, some NRIs have come together and contributed funds for a project selected by the village committee. This has led to an increase in contributions.
However, it is not always a rosy picture throughout the region. On occasion, political factionalism and petty, local conflict in the villages have reared their ugly heads and seriously hampered the implementation of projects, putting off the NRI donor from involvement in village activities. Three out of the 28 villages had not received any contribution in the past five years, though they had received contributions worth Rs.2.9 million earlier, while a fourth village got a donation of merely Rs.10,000 during this period.
In 2005, the Punjab government launched a plan scheme known as NRI 2.35 under which the state government would provide a matching grant to any developmental project initiated with NRI funds. At the NRI Sabha meeting in January 2008, the government announced that it would raise its grant allocation.
The lack of guidance and spontaneous, unorganised contribution by NRIs had led to unplanned and unorganised activity, Chana explained. The government policy of matching grants has helped to some extent in diverting NRI contribution to developmental projects, but there is not much awareness of the government scheme among the NRIs and villagers as yet. The NRIs see what is happening in other villages and “the desire of NRIs to contribute is deepening further”, he added.
(Shubha Singh is a writer on the Indian diaspora and international affairs. She can be reached at [email protected])