Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday will flag off the Pravasi Bharatiya Express, a special tourist train for the Indian diaspora, from New Delhi’s Safdarjung railway station.
The launch of this special train will come in the backdrop of the 18th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas convention, which will kick off in Odisha’s Bhubaneswar on Wednesday, PTI reported.
The prime minister will address the convention which aims at showcasing Odisha’s culture and heritage in front of the NRIs (non-resident Indians) who are coming to India from 50 countries.
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The Pravasi Bharatiya Express
- The Pravasi Bharatiya Express is a special state-of-the-art tourist train, exclusively designed and built for the Indian diaspora, and that too for the age group between 45 and 65 years.
- Starting from its launch day, January 9, the train will travel to multiple destinations across the nation, including prominent tourist and religious places, for a period of three weeks.
- The date for flagging off the special train has also been deliberately chosen by the Indian government. January 9 has been picked to commemorate the return of Mahatma Gandhi from South Africa to India on this date in 1915, the Indian embassy of Switzerland’s website read.
- The travel destinations of the Pravasi Bharatiya Express include Ayodhya, Patna, Gaya, Varanasi, Mahabalipuram, Rameswaram, Madurai, Kochi, Goa, Ekta Nagar (Kevadia), Ajmer, Pushkar, and Agra.
- Additionally, the train can accommodate 156 passengers.
- To connect the Indian diaspora to their roots, this three-week-long tour is being organized under the Ministry of External Affairs ‘Pravasi Teerth Darshan Yojana’ (PTDY) scheme, in collaboration with the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC).
Indian diaspora works as a ‘living bridge’
Arun Kumar Chatterjee, the Secretary (CPV & OIA) in the MEA, on Tuesday highlighted the importance of the Indian diaspora in this convention and said that they work as the “living bridge” between the nation where they stayed or worked and their motherland.
“The Indian diaspora has emerged as one of the largest sources of remittance in the world. The Indian diaspora stands at 35.4 million, including 19.5 million Persons of Indian Origins (PIOs) and 15.8 million NRIs. This diaspora that we have is one of our biggest strengths,” he said.
He noted that the diaspora could make an effective contribution to the growth of Odisha’s tourism, which has remained untapped so far. “The state has a lot to offer to international tourists,” Chatterjee said.
The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas convention will have five thematic plenary sessions – ‘Beyond Borders: Diaspora Youth Leadership in a Globalised World’, ‘Building Bridges, Breaking Barriers: Stories of Migrant Skills’, ‘Green Connections: Diaspora’s Contributions to Sustainable Development’, ‘Diaspora Divas: Celebrating Women’s Leadership and Influence – Nari Shakti’, and ‘Diaspora Dialogues: Stories of Culture, Connection and Belongingness’.
Ahead of the three-day convention and the prime minister’s presence in the state for the same, security arrangements have been beefed up in the state capital. A senior official noted that around 2,700 police personnel along with 1,200 central forces personnel will be deployed in Bhubaneswar for security and traffic management.
The last edition of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas convention was held in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore.
(with inputs from PTI, ANI)