Abu Dhabi: The south Indian state of Kerala will constitute an expert committee soon to study the feasibility of establishing a financial institution to cater exclusively to its estimated 3 million people working abroad.
Most of them are in the Gulf, with between 800,000 to 1 million in the UAE and the same number or more in Saudi Arabia, according to media reports.
“The government will take next steps to establish the bank based on the recommendation of the committee,” Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy announced on Friday.
He was officially inaugurating the third Global Meet of Overseas Indian Cultural Congress (OICC), an umbrella body of expatriate organisations affiliated to the Kerala unit of India’s ruling Congress party.
Chandy made the announcement in response to a request made by Ramesh Chennithala, the president of Kerala unit of Congress party, who presided over the inaugural function.
He requested the chief minister to consider setting up a bank in the state’s cooperative sector for expatriates, which can receive their deposits and lend money to them on low interest rates, especially to returnees from abroad.
He pointed out that Kerala’s annual plan outlay is Rs500 billion (Dh34.4 billion) whereas the state gets annual remittance of Rs550 billion from its people working abroad.
He pointed out the recent decision by the central and state governments in India to establish a bank exclusively for women. Chennithala said it will help women find funds for self-employment projects. The proposed bank for Non-Resident Keralites could be set up on the same lines, he said.
K.C Venugopal, Indian minister of state for Civil Aviation said many expatriates were complaining that even the public sector banks, which received their deposits never gave them loan. “If they give loan, its on exorbitant interest rates of over 13 per cent interest”, he pointed out. The proposed bank will alleviate such complaints because public sector banks will be compelled to compete with that bank, he said.
The ministers said the proposed bank can play a major role in the rehabilitation package for returnees from the Gulf.
M.M Hassan, a former minister of Non-Kerala Resident Affairs and a senior leader of Congress party, said apart from the remittances, the central government was receiving a huge amount on emigration fee from workers going abroad. The government has to allocate at least a small amount from that fund for the welfare of Non-Resident Indians, he demanded.
