Dubai: For the first time, a large group of Indian workers in the UAE got a chance to be part of a celebration of the largest meet of Indian diaspora happening back home.
Indian missions in the UAE on Monday evening organised an event at the Events Arena of Dulsco Village in Al Quoz to facilitate workers from various parts of India to witness the highlights of the 14th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas held in Bangalore and get a feel of the event.
Videos of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech at the event and his government's achievements, especially that of the External Affairs Ministry in supporting Indian expats in distress at different parts of the world, were screened for the workers.
Most workers, who clapped for Modi's speech, said they were not aware of the government hosting such a programme for migrant Indians.
Rashid Sageer Ahmed, carpenter from Uttar Pradhesh, said he got to know about such an event for the first time. He said it was a good initiative to inform the workers about what their government is doing to support migrant workers.
Jasbir Singh, a labourer from Punjab, said he hoped that the details about the hotline publicised at the event will be of help to workers when they need require assistance from the Indian missions.
Ravi Mogili, a porter from Telangana, who reached the UAE just two months ago, said the event helped shed light on how the Indian government is extending support to Indian expats, especially the workers.
Kapil Raj, second secretary at Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, Raju Balakrishnan, labour consul at the Indian Consulate in Dubai, Anish Chaudhury, manager of Indian Workers' Resource Centre, Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awardee Bharatbhai Shah and other senior members of the community were also present.
