Forget Amazon, here are five real issues for the MEA

The micro-blogging website, Twitter, has become a battleground for politicians, celebrities and the corporate. Almost every single day someone is being slammed, trolled, or threatened on this social media platform.

 

Recently, Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj slammed Amazon for selling tri-colour doormats. She demanded the product to be removed from the Canadian website of the e-commerce giant apart from an unconditional apology. As an immediate response, the company withdrew the product and also, offered written apology expressing ‘regret at hurting Indian sensibilities’. 

 

Slamming the website on Twitter was not the best move by the minister who is known for being active on Twitter, and you can read about it here. 

 

Love and respect for the nation and its integral aspects are commendable. But, apart from Amazon here are few other issues that truly insult India as a nation and needs more attention than Amazon.

 

1. Foreign NGOs  and massive funding: 

 

According to a report published last year, in 2011-12, 22,702 NGOs reportedly got ₹11,546 crore from external contributors. Interestingly, the top donating country is the USA, followed by the UK. The majority of the donations go to church-based organisations that primarily work on conversions. And most of the funds go to political and religious activities. 

 

The report also claims that half of the NGOs registered under the Foreign Contributions Regulation Act (FCRA) do not provide account details to Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). In short, the functioning of these NGOs is dubious. And since the funding comes from foreign shores, the MEA needs to take up this issue at a diplomatic level.

 

2. Indians working abroad: 

 

At the recently held 14th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, NRIs expressed their concern over the ill-treatment of Indian workers, especially in Gulf countries. Time and again, the media has reported cases of mistreatment of Indian migrant workers in the UAE. Sushma Swaraj herself has provided assistance multiple times. 

 

However, this is an issue that requires a permanent fix through bilateral conversations with the countries where Indian workers are ill-treated. Perhaps fiery threats should be reserved for such meetings.

 

3. The power of the Indian Passport 

 

India’s passport ranks low on the list of countries with most powerful passports. Arton Capital, a financial advisory firm, devised a passport ranking system based on ‘Visa Free Score’. The company ranks the power of a passport by how many countries a citizen can visit without visa or visa on arrival. 

 

On this list, the Indian passport ranked 59 behind Namibia, Sierra Leone, and Nicaragua. An Indian can only travel to 59 countries without the visa or on visa on arrival option. A more powerful push to have our passports enhanced would be ideal.  

 

4. Historic artefacts:   

 

Many valuable artefacts of India are still in museums of various countries. With some of these countries, India shares close diplomatic ties. Apart from the Kohinoor diamond, there are equally valuable artefacts that should be brought back to India. 

 

While PM Modi has visited several countries and retrieved some artefacts, the vast majority remain abroad. A more systematic plan, which involves a constant shifting of artefacts back to India is the need of the hour. 

 

5. Indian students studying in foreign universities: 

 

Till recently, the ministry had no data about the number of Indian students studying in abroad. Only four months back, Sushma Swaraj tweeted about a student registration module for Indians studying abroad. But over the years, there have been several cases of Indian students being cheated by fake universities, especially in America. 

 

In any case, a student who studies abroad is not under any particular protection by Indian embassies. Also there are few and far between outreach programmes. Indian students probably require more indepth coverage from India.