Punjabis are ethnically, linguistically and culturally related to the other Indo-Aryan peoples of South Asia. There are an estimated 120 million Punjabis around the world. The Punjabi people have emigrated in large numbers to many parts of the world.The United Kingdom has a significant number of Punjabis from both India and Pakistan as does Canada and the United States. The Middle East has a large immigrant community of Punjabis, in places such as the UAE and Kuwait. Indians in the USA are one of the largest among the groups of Indian diaspora, numbering about 1.7 million, and probably the most well off - their median income is 1.5 times that of the host country.
They are well represented in all walks of life, but particularly so in academia, information technology and medicine. There were over 4,000 PIO professors and 33,000 Indian-born students in American universities in 1997-98. The American Association of the Physicians of Indian Origin boasts a membership of 35,000. in 2000, Fortune magazine estimated the wealth generated by Indian Silicon Valley entrepreneurs at around 250 billion dollars.in the year 2002, of the entire total 1,063,732 immigrants to USA from all the countries, as many as 66,864 were from India. According to the US census, the overall growth rate for Indians from 1990 to 2000 was 105.87 per cent. The average growth rate for the whole of USA was only 7.6 per cent.
India can put any horror film to shame if we talk of the miserable condition of the non resident Indians Estate developers and agents have duped many NRI'S because of insufficient inspection of the relevant property documents. Suppressed encumbrances and defective ownership titles have led to complications, even in the case of resident buyer Although the numbers do not reveal the full harassment, no less than 3,000. People residing in different countries can recount their horrendous tales of their ancestral property or their own holdings having been illegally grabbed, occupied and confiscated by their relatives, friends or agents. NRI'S are particularly vulnerable to such malpractices, because of the lack of time, knowledge and proper legal support at their disposal Indian law does not provide ready recourse to an NRI; so a special judicial dispensation for NRI property problems is desperately needed. A number of special courts and tribunals have been set up to deal with specialized cases Norris lose out because the Indian legal system takes years, if not decades, to pronounce judgments on cases and the system is overloaded with millions of pending cases that would take decades to clear.. in January GOPIO held a special panel during its annual conference in New Delhi. Some legal experts were invited to give their advice and opinions and try to find workable solutions. The aim was to devise a way out, to resolve the problems within the parameters of the Indian legal system NRIs have been complaining that false cases are registered against them and after some time they are declared proclaimed offenders by the police to stop them from entering India. They allege that mostly the objective is to grab their property in their absence. A proclaimed offender can be arrested at the airport at the time of his landing in the country property issues. Chief minister of Punjab MR.Badal said he would write to the Prime Minster in this regard. He said if any NRI wanted to invest money in setting up a school, hospital or other institution at his village, the state government would put 75 per cent share in it. NRI police stations would be set up at Jalandhar, Nawanshahr, Moga, Kapurthala and two other places. Complaints in such police stations can be lodged through e-mail and other modern means of communication. An empowered committee headed by chief secretary would be set up to deal with other issues related to NRIs. To ensure that no change is made in the revenue record of the land and properties held by NRIs in Punjab, records of their properties would be put on the official website of the government. In case they find any change made in the record without informing them, then they could approach the empowered committee.
Another huge problem is that of fake marriages which are taking place because of the allurements thrown by agents, the greed sake of dollar and the desire to settle family members in foreign countries; these are the root causes leading to such marriages. NRI boys marry girl and then run away this is becoming more and more menacing. Punjab is becoming a source state as well as a transit state for the trafficking and/or forced migration of young women. Not only has the government in its hunger of the dollars and pounds coming from the NRIs failed to check such marriages; it has also failed to pass a law enforcing compulsory registration of NRI marriages. Punjab had had more than 65.5 percent people living in the rural areas and depending directly or indirectly on agriculture. This forced the Punjabis to go abroad for better livelihood. and thus began the exploitation of many social ties under the influence of a money-minded culture. This is what today badly affects the social relations in Punjab There is also the additional crazy desire that one would be able to settle some family member(s) abroad after the marriage of one's daughter. Because of this mentality, parents from middle class strata go ahead to arrange their daughters' marriages with NRI youth without even verifying the background and antecedents of the latter. As it has turned out in many cases, many of these NRIs are already married and have children. In some cases, there is a big gap in age also. Moreover, they come to India on a short trip only, in order to allure and exploit some young girl. However, in most cases, after waiting for years together, the girl finds that her ?husband' has only exploited her sexually, ravaged her modesty and left her to her miserable destiny for the whole life. In some cases, a groom takes the girl with him abroad, where her life is made miserable. She has to work days and nights, often like maidservants, her passport and other papers are taken away from her, and she is oppressed no end by the groom and his family. There are hundreds of such instances in which teenage girls were married to NRI grooms, many of whom were of their fathers' ages, with the only intention that their girls' sacrifice would pave the way for other family members going abroad and improving their economic conditions. Hoshiarpur and Jalandhar are now on the top in respects of such heinous incidents. The exploitation of girls by NRIs is facilitated by so many factors. More than 50 percent cases are reported by the peasantry, and some 25 percent by middle class families. The main reasons for this social tragedy are the socio-economic conditions of the peasantry in Punjab, the ever-rising level of unemployment and the westernisation of social relations, which together provide a fertile ground for such incidents. Some instituition are working in Punjab like Now Registration of an NRI groom's marriage, solemnised in India, must be made compulsory. In case such a marriage is solemnised by a religious institution with the performance of religious rites, that institution must be made to check beforehand the identity of the groom and also his of his witnesses, and also issue a certificate of marriage. The law of the land must be recast in such a manner as to empower the girl's family to stand against such injustice and exploitation. A special cell of the police force must be there to effectively provide justice to the aggrieved family. Due legal, financial and other required assistance must be provided to such victims. There must be a strong and broad-based women's movement against this evil so as to save the innocent and young girls in Punjab from falling to its prey.
Many instituitions are formed for the intrest of NRI'S The NRI Sabha Punjab was formed to fulfill the sacred and moral responsibility of the resident society of Punjab to look after the interests and welfare of the Non-Resident Punjabis and to strengthen their emotional and ethnic bonds with the motherland. It is a non-political Sabha which brings together NRIs, their well wishers in Punjab and Govt. of Punjab on one forum. State NRI Commissioner, Jalandhar Division as Chairman ensures proper working of the Sabha, conduct of election for President and audit of accounts/ records of membership etc. As every NRI member nominates a nominee member in Punjab, the Sabha becomes a joint forum of NRIs and their well-wishers. It gives the NRIs aforum for their recognition in Punjab. The Sabha is developing into a complete organisation consisting of various wings like grievances removal, youth and women wings etc its main objectives are mainly to pursue the interests of the NRIs with the State and Central Governments. To help in investment of NRIs in Punjab and to provide a forum for the NRIs, their well-wishers living in Punjab and the Government to join and act together.To act as trustees of the properties of NRIs of Punjab who wish to entrust their property to the Sabha for such trusteeship another instituition is Janwadi Istri Sabha of Punjab has been waging a relentless war against such social vices and organising rallies, seminars and meetings involving women in order to educate them against such deceivers. It has also been asking the parents not marry their daughters to anyone blindly, without verifying the antecedents and family background of the prospective bridegrooms. Also, whenever such an incident occurs to a family, its head and members must not feel shy of exposing the deceiving NRIs and taking help from or giving help to other families in calling the bluff.