NRK welfare scheme a big hit

Arjun Raghunath First Published : 12 May 2010 03:01:00 AM IST

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It seems that Non-Resident Keralites (NRKs) have been eagerly waiting for a statesponsored welfare scheme.
Within a couple of months after its launch, around 50,000 NRKs and returnees have already joined the NRK Welfare Fund constituted by the State Government.
NRKs from the Gulf countries such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain constitute the major chunk of those who enrolled themselves in the welfare scheme.
Similarly, a good number of returnees have also joined the scheme. But the response from Keralites working in other states within the country is not that impressive, according to NRK Welfare Fund Board chief executive officer K T Balabhaskaran.
Though the Board was constituted in 2009, it started functioning only in January this year. Initially, the response to the scheme from abroad was quite cold, which was owing to certain technical difficulties.
According to the norms, the NRKs working outside India have to submit copies of passport and visa attested by the embassy for joining the welfare fund. Now this norm has been relaxed. One need to submit only self-attested copies and embassy attested copies need to be submitted only within three years or while availing of any benefits of the welfare fund, which ever comes first.
An online facility to join the scheme will also be introduced soon. According to rough estimates, there are around 20 lakh Non-Resident Keralites working abroad.
Only the working class are expected to join the welfare scheme.
``We estimate that around 10 lakh people, including NRKs and returnees, would join the scheme in the next three years. We are giving massive publicity to the scheme through the media in the Gulf countries,’’ said Balabhaskaran.
Several organisations of Malayalis in the Gulf countries are taking the initiative to collect the filled-in forms and other required documents and send it to the NRK Welfare Fund Board which is based in Thiruvananthapuram.
The monthly subscription for the scheme is Rs 300 for NRKs abroad and Rs 100 for returnees and NRKs in other Indian states.