s P ecIAL R e PORT PBD

Meagre attendance and few program sessions with mass appeal mar diaspora event

If the mission statement for the Regional Pravasi Bharitya Diwas (Overseas Indians Day) in Sydney was “Connecting for a Shared Future – the Indian Diaspora, India and the Pacific,” sadly, the event does not appear to have achieved its objective.

Poor attendance, unrealistic costing, a skew towards business in the program sessions, and less than satisfactory execution have been cited as factors.

With more than 800,000 Indian diaspora in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Island nations, Day One on November 10 saw less than 150 people in attendance. Numbers picked up on Day Two to about 350, but dwindled to about 200 on the last day.

The Sydney Convention Centre with its capacity of over 2,000 looked strangely desolate as key note speakers, some of them highly accomplished in their fields, made their addresses.

The concept of the regional PBD

Regional PBDs are organised by the Indian Government’s Ministry of Overseas Affairs to provide a platform for the Indian community in a selected region of the world to contribute to the relationship between the countries of their region and India. Last year, the event was held at Port of Spain, Mauritius.

Earlier this year, there was much excitement in Australia’s Indian community as Sydney was picked to host the convention. An Indian High Commission communique said it expected “1,000 participants from within Australia and from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Fiji, New Zealand, PNG, Hong Kong, Phillippines and the Pacific Islands”. The Premier of NSW Barry O’Farrell showed the same enthusiasm, declaring that he foresaw “an estimated $2.8 million worth of economic activity for NSW”. In the end, no more than 350 delegates attended, of whom 140 were invited speakers. Most attendees were local Sydney-siders, with only a smattering from other states, predominantly Victoria. The overseas delegates made up a negligible number.

PBD sydney: highlights

At the very outset, it must be said that hosting the seventh Pravasi Bhartiya Divas in Australia presented a great opportunity for the Indians in the region to connect with the motherland and with each other. Attendee Raj Natarajan, past UIA President, pointed out, “PBD Sydney was a perfect opportunity to present issues of concern in the local diaspora to the policy makers both in Australia and India, because we had the ears and eyes of the highest office in States, the Premiers and some of the highest offices at the Federal level like the Immigration and Trade Ministers”.

A significant platform was created by Australia’s nomination as the venue for the 2013 Regional PBD.

As well, attendees were afforded an excellent opportunity to listen to speakers with some great stories to tell. The passionate and emotional speech by the former Prime Minister of Fiji, Mahendra Pal Chaudhry, particularly stood out. Equally well presented was the warm welcome by NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell who hosted the delegates at Government House, speeches by the Premier of South Australia Jay Wetherill and the Deputy Premier of Queensland Jeff Sweeney, and the warm and friendly Pallavi Sharda, Australia’s own Bollywood celebrity. Well-known recluse and cricket legend Steve Waugh turned up as well, to share his experiences in India.

From the Federal level, the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Scott Morrison and the Minister for Trade and Investment Andrew Robb found their way to the PBD even as their new government one on languages and the other on media, went down particularly well. Never has the PBD discussed the power of Indian languages in the Indian diaspora; seeing this on the program was indeed heartening, and sets a positive precedent for future PBDs. The session on media was efficiently handled by moderator Sushi Das as she led the participants through a structured session yet allowed flexibility in the various discussion points.

Flying in two accomplished performance artists such as santoor maestro Shiv Kumar Sharma and acclaimed vocalist Meeta Pandit also added a deeper dimension to the cultural engagement of the PBD. Both artists thrilled the crowd, however small, at their performances.

Perhaps most successfully, the convention turned out to be a great opportunity for delegates to network with community members from other states and nations. Faces were put to names

so what went wrong?

The Chief Guest, India’s Minister for Overseas Affairs, Vayalar Ravi looked stunned as he stood at the dais to address the nearly empty Sydney Convention Centre in his opening speech. He fumbled his way through his address, which he attributed, somewhat strangely, to ‘poor stage lighting’. Speaking to Indian Link on the last day, the Minister did comment on the poor turnout, citing “the vast distances people would have had to travel, which would have added to the cost of attendance”.

Unfortunately, more things went wrong than right for this much-anticipated event.

For starters, the organisers chose an overly bureaucratised ‘top-heavy’ approach, about which much comment has already appeared in community media.

Decisions were made out of Canberra, not exactly the greatest hub of connectivity amongst the local India population in of the targeted audiences of the PBD, and it is input from these concerned pravasis which should have been sought.

Perhaps the eligibility for membership in the managing committee should have been a non-GPS drive to centres of influence within the local Indian community, say Harris Park in Sydney. This would have verified the candidates’ credentials in terms of how connected they are to the bulk of the Indian community! (Take for instance, Senator Lisa Singh, who sat on the organising committee. While she is deservedly admired for making it to Parliament through sheer dint of hard work, her indepth knowledge of the Indian community here is questionable).

Jokes aside, the organisers simply could not excite the community about the PBD.

Perhaps the marketing could have been better, to reach a wider section of the targeted audience. Instead, thousands of dollars