By IANS,
Dubai : India’s Consul General in Dubai Venu Rajamony has called upon expatriate Indians to participate actively in Dubai’s new global blindness eradication programme Noor Dubai.
Hailing the new initiative, Rajamony said India’s relations with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in general and with Dubai in particular have always been a model of cooperation and effective coordination, the state-run Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported.
Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Noor Dubai campaign Sep 3 to mark the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
The campaign is aimed at helping the World Health Organisation (WHO) and International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) achieve the goals outlined in the Vision 2020: The Right to Sight.
Noor Dubai will treat and provide health services to one million people suffering from treatable blindness and visual impairment in developing countries.
The consul general, who signed the ‘Golden Book’ in which people can send a special note to the Dubai ruler for this new initiative, said that Noor Dubai was an ode to Sheikh Mohammad, “an extraordinary individual who has shown so much dynamism, so much initiative and also compassion for the common man, for the people who are underprivileged, who are deprived in any way”.
“The Indian community was in the forefront in making contributions and donations when the Dubai Cares initiative was announced a year ago,” Rajamony said.
“I am sure they would do the same again with regard to Noor Dubai,” he added.
The Dubai Cares campaign, launched by Sheikh Mohammad during Ramadan last year, was aimed at meeting the goals of the education category under the UN’s Millennium Development Goals.
The Indian diplomat also expressed his appreciation and gratitude for the noble treatment of Indians in the UAE, the WAM report said.
There are around 1.5 million expatriate Indians in the UAE.
Rajamony also made a strong pitch to the Indian community to come forward and support another initiative of Sheikh Mohammad to support children with special needs.