By IANS
New Delhi : Mauritius Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam, British businessman Karan Bilimoria, Indian Americans Joy Cherian and Thomas Abraham and three people from the Gulf are among the 12 recipients of this year’s Pravasi Bharatiya Samman award that recognizes leading achievers among the vast Indian diaspora.
All of them come from varied backgrounds and regions but have all helped to strengthen ties between India and its diaspora, that today numbers over 130 million in some 130 countries.
For the first time, an institution was honoured with the award: The National Council of Indian Culture (NCIC) of Trinidad and Tobago, the premier organisation engaged in propagating India’s cultural values and ethics to the present day descendants of indentured labourers from India in the Caribbean region.
President Pratibha Devisingh Patil conferred the awards at the valedictory session that marked the end of the two-day, sixth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) here Wednesday.
The citation for Mauritius Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam, who was also the chief guest of the annual conclave, says the award was not only honouring “intrepid Indians who left the shores of India nearly two centuries ago to courageously build a new country in difficult circumstances”, but was also to pay tribute to his father, Sir Seewoosagar Ramgoolam, who is known as the father of Mauritius.
“As a popular leader, he (Navinchandra Ramgoolam) has also endeavoured to nurture and further strengthen the bonds between Mauritius and India in all dimensions and has provided exemplary leadership to the Indian diaspora,” it said.
Similarly, British businessman Karan Bilimoria, who is now a member of the House of Lords and founder of the Cobra Beer brand, was honoured for his “efforts in promoting Indo-British business relations”.
Bilimoria is also the chairman of the Indo-British Partnership, as well as the representative deputy lieutenant of the London Borough of Hounslow and chancellor of the Thames Valley University.
Working for over 43 years, the NCIC organises celebrations of Indian festivals among people of Indian origin in Trinidad and the Caribbean region.
“NCIC has been instrumental in creating awareness in the present generation of people of Indian origin (PIO) of their heritage and the cultural values of their motherland through seminars, lectures, conferences etc,” said the citation.
Australia and New Zealand have been represented with an awardee each in Neville Joseph Roach and Judge Ajit Swarn Singh respectively.
Roach, chairman of the Australia India Business Council, is one of the best-known PIOs in Australia. He is the chairman of TCS-FNS, an Australian banking solutions company acquired by Tata Consultancy Services and established the Australian chamber of Nasscom.
A district court judge, Ajit Swaran Singh, has “actively facilitated new migrants from India to settle down in New Zealand and has been an active participant in social and community projects”.
He was also cited as a model for Indian-origin lawyers to “achieve higher levels of excellence in their profession”.
The first Asian to be appointed to a sub-cabinet position during the term of US President Ronald Reagan, Joy Cherian received the award for “his contribution in the field of public service” and to the growth in India-US relationship.
He founded the Indian American Forum for Political Education and has served as adviser to two US Trade Missions to India.
As a frontline activist in the diaspora movement for the last 34 years, awardee Thomas Abraham had organised the first convention of PIOs in New York on 1989. He has set up several Indian associations, including the Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO).
There were three recipients from the Gulf – Rafiuddin S. Fazulbhoy, Ravi Pillai and Krishnamurthy Kumar.
A founding member of Jeddah’s Indian school and Indian Pilgrims Welfare Forum, Fazulbhoy has been very active in the field of children’s education as well as welfare of Haj pilgrims.
Pillai is one of the largest employers of Indians abroad, having given jobs to over 25,000 non-resident Indians in his business establishments in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, having a major presence in the oil and gas sector.
Kumar is the founding governor of the Indian Business and Professional Council under the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which promotes India-UAE trade flow.
Significantly, he has been involved in raising “blood money” to secure the release of Indian prisoners. He also helped in facilitating the repatriation of a large number of Indians during the UAE government’s amnesty scheme in 2007.
From Japan, A.P.S Mani was honoured for his community work, which include setting up the Indian Communities Activities Tokyo and providing assistance to Indian delegations.
He was a member of the committee for celebrating 2007, the India-Japan Friendship year, and a member of the committee to celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Well-known philanthropist Bicky Chakraborty from Sweden is a hotelier, who has set up a 150-bed hospital and primary health centres for the poor in India. “He is recognised for his business acumen and dedicated service,” said the citation.