Name of an Indian non-governmental diasporic award

Indian non-governmental diasporic awards

This article refers to awards presented to members of the Indian diaspora by non-governmental organisations.-Objectives and Private Enterprise:Persons of Indian origin residing outside India are an important factor not only for the Indian economy, but also for the international political...

 (Hindi

Hindi

Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...

: "Jewel of India", transliterated both as Hind Rattan and Hind Ratan) given yearly to about 30 members of the worldwide Indian diaspora (comprising the categories of both Non-resident Indian and Person of Indian Origin

Non-resident Indian and Person of Indian Origin

A Non-Resident Indian is an Indian citizen who has migrated to another country, a person of Indian origin who is born outside India, or a person of Indian origin who resides permanently outside India. Other terms with the same meaning are overseas Indian and expatriate Indian...

) by the NRI Welfare Society of India (see below), at a ceremony in connection with the yearly "International Congress of Non Resident Indians" (held since 1982) on and around the Indian Republic Day

Republic Day

Republic Day is the name of a holiday in several countries to commemorate the day when they became republics.-1 January in the Republic of Slovakia:This was the day of creation of the Republic of Slovakia. A national holiday since 1993...

 (January 26) in New Delhi; the number of awardees varies, and can sporadically be 50 or even more. That, though awarded by a private organisation, the Hind Rattan can lay claim to prestigiousness, is shown by direct or indirect association of prominent personalities — including present and past members of the Indian Government — not only with the award ceremony, but also with the advisory board of the Society itself; among those associated with the board or present or past award ceremonies are the former Prime Minister

Prime minister

A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...

s H.D. Deve Gowda and I.K. Gujral, ministers such as K.C. Pant and Oscar Fernandes

Oscar Fernandes

Oscar Fernandes is an India politician, a senior Indian National Congress leader and AICC General Secretary. He was the Minister of State of the Ministry of Labour and Employment in Dr. Manmohan Singh's first UPA government in India. He was elected to the 7th Lok Sabha in 1980 from Udupi...

, and former Election Commissioner

Election Commission of India

The Election Commission of India is an autonomous, quasi-judiciary constitutional body of India. Its mission is to conduct free and fair elections in India...

 G.V.G. Krishnamurthy. Ambassadors of countries with a high number of diasporic Indians are also regular atendees addressing the participants of the Congress at which the awards are presented.

However, the criteria based on which individual Hind Rattan awards are bestowed are unclear: potential awardees are nominated inter alia by a process of peer recommendation, but how and why the final awardees are chosen is not known, as the award committee does not publish its reasons. Moreover, the award comes only with this honour, no financial benefits; to receive it, recipients have to bear their own expenses for coming to New Delhi and attending the Congress mentioned above (see section on Controversial Issues).

At the same Congress, nine selected persons (mostly previous recipients of the Hind Rattan award) are usually presented with the Nav Rattan award (Hindi: "Nine Jewels", also transliterated as Nav Ratan, Navratan, Navrattan etc.). This award is named after the Navaratnas

Navaratnas

Navaratnas Nauratan was a term applied to a group of nine extraordinary people in a emperor's court in India...

.

A further, very selectively presented, award is the Sword of Honour.

NRI Welfare Society of India

The NRI Welfare Society of India, with chapters in various countries, was founded in 1981 by Harbhajan Singh (died 2006), member of the Press Council of India

Press Council of India

The Press Council Of India is a statutory body in India that governs the conduct of the print media. It is one of the most important bodies that sustain democracy, as it has supreme power in regards to the media to ensure that freedom of speech is maintained. However, it is also empowered to hold...

 (1982-1988), editor of the English fortnightly The Indian Observer, president of the All India Small & Medium Newspapers Federation, and recipient of the 2000 UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Gold Medal. As per its own depiction, the NRI Welfare Society of India understands itself as a link organisation between the Indian diaspora and the Government of India. It claims to be the premier organisation to have first given overseas Indians and people of Indian origin a voice for the Government to hear, and to have been instrumental in effecting several changes in the way the Government of India deals with the Indian diaspora, including the setting up of the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs

Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs

The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs is part of the government of India. The ministry, as of May 2008, is headed by Vayalar Ravi.Its website states:...

 and the appointment of a commissioner for overseas Indians, steps for implementing dual citizenship, and the holding of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas

Pravasi Bharatiya Divas

Pravasi Bharatiya Divas , is celebrated in India on 9 January each year to mark the contribution of the overseas Indian community to the development of India. The day commemorates the arrival of Mahatama Gandhi in India from South Africa...

.

Controversial issues

Even though the list of recipients of its awards throughout the years is manifestly a list of illustrious and influential personages of the Indian diaspora, and in spite of the prestige associated with its awards, the NRI Welfare Society of India has been criticised for insisting that these awards be collected in person at the Congress mentioned above, which entails considerable expenses on the part of the recipients.

Prominent recipients

The NRI Welfare Society of India has not published any list of its award recipients, so this list is to be seen as a first attempt. In accordance with the guidelines WP:ELNO it lists only persons included in the Wikipedia.

Chatwal, Sant Singh

Sant Singh Chatwal

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Dabydeen, David

David Dabydeen

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Das, Rahul Peter

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Gujjula, Ravindra

Khabra, Piara Singh

Piara Khabra

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Khator, Renu

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Pandian, Malaysia S.

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Sharma, Pankaj

Sherazee, Mohammed Shafi Ata (Maung Maung Ta)

Maung Maung Ta

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Singh, Madanjeet

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Suri, Lalit

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Syed, Ibrahim B.

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