Lucknow, Jun 4 (IANS): The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh will now use festivals to connect with non-resident Indians (NRIs) in other countries.
The NRI department in the state will be live streaming the Deepotsav festival in Ayodhya during Diwali and then the Holi celebrations in Vrindavan too. Other Uttar Pradesh festivals and cultural events will also be a part of this initiative.
The website for this will be officially launched by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath this month.
State MSME Minister Siddhartha Nath Singh, who is in charge of the NRI department, has asked officials to ensure that NRI's remain connected to their roots through this initiative.
The website will contain information about the cultural activities in the state, possibilities of investment, tweets and messages by the Chief Minister. It will work as a unified interface for the NRIs, who will be connected with the Centre's website for NRIs and contain links to important departments in the state like tourism, health tourism, education, MSME and industries.
A link to the investment portal 'Nivesh Mitra' will also be available on the website, which is being developed as mobile friendly as well. It will be available in both Hindi and English.
Siddhartha Nath Singh said that the website would also be a gamechanger for the NRIs who also wish to invest in the state.
"Investors will find all information related to the industry and investment opportunities on the website. It will work as a communication hub for NRIs and I have asked the department to complete it within this week so that the chief minister can inaugurate it this month," he said.
He said that the manner in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi had managed to link Gujarati NRIs with the state while he was the Chief Minister there and had even brought major investments into Gujarat, had proved to be an inspiration for this website.
The NRIs will get a virtual tour of various events in the state, apart from festivals. "We will also promote cultural and tourist events on the website," the minister said.
NRIs from various parts of the world will be able to register on the website for access to information on industry, special events and those from the state will also be able to renew or apply for fresh NRI cards online.
The website will be linked to a payment gateway and a digital NRI card will be issued to the applicant.