Induction Ceremony

Rotary Club of Beau Bassin-Rose Hill

22 June 2019

Remarks by High Commissioner Tanmaya Lal

Distinguished Mayor of Beau-Bassin/Rose Hill Mr. Ken Fong

Mr. Hemant Ramdewor, President of Rotary Club

Mr. Rakesh Gaju, incoming President of the Club

Distinguished Guests, Rotarians,

Ladies and Gentlemen

I thank you for inviting me to this very special Induction Ceremony of the Rotary Club this evening.

May I first thank Mr. Misri for his kind words of introduction. He mentioned about the BITS Pilani and BIT Mesra. I would like to add that while I studied at BITS Pilani, I also spent a few years of my life at Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra where my father used to teach Civil Engineering.

I have been advised to share some thoughts about social work and empowerment. In fact, you are the real practitioners of social service, as you are assisting your community in different ways. I represent the Government and therefore may have a somewhat different experience of how a government makes such interventions.

The concept of helping fellow beings in our society has evolved from simple charity towards empowerment which has a more long term sustained impact. This can work through provision of education, skills, finances or technology or legal rights to help the disadvantaged and the needy including the poorer sections, the disabled or women and children in certain contexts.

I have learnt of the excellent work that all of you are contributing to, in terms of working with the poor or the elderly or with persons with special needs. I must compliment you all for these efforts. I think that such interventions can work at various levels for instance at the individual level, collective efforts by groups such as yours, NGOs and the Government.

The Government can often work through appropriate legislations and policies. These days the Government of India is making focused efforts to use technology in scaling up such interventions to empower people.

I would like to talk about one such major ongoing initiative from recent years. This is the initiative to upscale financial inclusion in India by using technology to issue unique biometric based ID cards to all our people; opening hundreds of millions of new bank accounts for the unbanked poor sections of society and connecting them through smart phones and IT enabled services.

This has had a transformational impact by vastly improving efficiency of delivery of services, reducing corruption and including previously unbanked people in a way that changes their lives. The Government is committed to bridge the Digital Divide to help all.

At a broader level, right from our independence, despite our limited resources, India has worked with partners to share experiences in higher education, vocational training under our ITEC programme to share technical skills. One such important example, among many, is the field relating to Hydrography where we are partnering Mauritius to build technical and institutional capacity.

Another instance that comes to mind is our partnership with Mauritius in providing E-tablets to very young students of grades I, II & III that adds value to basic education. I have seen the success of use of e-tablets in schools in Mauritius.

Another recent instance is where we worked with a Mauritian Jazz band Alelier Mo’zar. The group is working with young children from under privileged section and empowering them through music.

We are also working with some schools to assist them with lab equipment where possible.

India has also been partnering Africa in various capacity building initiatives including in solar power sector to empower experts and the common people alike, especially older women.

May I again compliment all of you for your excellent work and wish you the very best going forward.

Thank you.