According to the US Census Bureau the average Indian American family annual income is $60,000 as against the national average of $38,885. Clearly, Indians in the US are doing pretty well. Their annual buying power is around $25 billion.

But, unlike China, where the rate of "returnees" is very high, few Indians come back to India or invest in their home country. Indeed very few of them are involved with India's socio-economy. That might change with a new initiative sourced to Silicon Valley.

Non-resident Indians (NRIs) living in the US will adopt 500 villages in India. This would be a part of the well to do Indo-Americans resolve to develop the rural areas of the country.

A formal announcement in this regard would be made during the Big Ideas for Better India conference in Silicon Valley on July 1.

At present, NRIs are the second largest Asian group (2,226,585) in the US, behind only the Chinese (2,762,524).

The initiative in village adoption comes from Sri Sri Ravishankar, the founder of the Art of Living. The 500 villages have been selected on the basis of highest farmer suicide rate, high unemployment rates. These communities need immediate support, said Satej Chaudhary, president of the Overseas Volunteers for Better India (OVBI).

Close to 12000 farmers commit suicide in India every year. Most of them resort to the final solution because of debts. In years when monsoon is scanty, the number of deaths go up. As this report is being filed there is a violent farmers' protest going on in Madhya Pradesh, where 7 men were killed in police firing. Most of those ending their lives are men. This further impacts the family where traditionally the male is the main bread earner.

The OVBI would be organizing the meeting on July 1. "We are bringing together geoscientists, agricultural experts and entrepreneurs to help double the income of farmers by 2022," said Satej Chaudhary. Over 1000 NRI leaders are expected to gather in Silicon Valley on July 1.

An OVBI spokesperson said the event would address the some of the most challenging problems faced by India in agriculture, governance and human trafficking. Last year OVBI had organized a water summit and successfully sought the expertise of many specialists from USA to replenish river waters. The drying up of natural resources like rivers is an abiding problem in India.

The adoption of 500 poor villages and helping the villagers to a better life is not an impossible task if the NRIs apply their mind to it. The hotel business run by Indians in America alone add up to $40 billion. A Merrill Lynch Market Study said one in every nine Indians in the US is a millionaire. Again, a University of California study reported that one-third of the engineers in Silicon Valley are of Indian descent, while 7% of the valley's hi-tech firms are led by Indian CEOs.

Clearly resources are not likely to be a problem in adopting the villages. A formal announcement of the initiative would be made during the Big Ideas for Better India conference in Silicon Valley on July 1.

Source: Khaleej Times