Washington, DC
October 19, 2007

The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs has been organizing the Know India Programme (KIP) in order to associate the younger generation of the Indian Diaspora closely with India. Seven such programmes have been organized till now. The Know India Programme provides a unique forum for students and young professionals of Indian origin to share their views, expectations and experience to bond closely with contemporary India. The earlier programmes have been greatly appreciated by the participants.

2. The 8th Programme in this series is being planned to be organized for a period of 3-weeks between the last weeks of December 2007 and January 2008 so as to coincide with the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) 2008 to be held from 7-9 January, 2008. The exact programme will be communicated shortly. The programme will be organized in partnership with the Government of Tamil Nadu with the logistical support of Nehru Yuvak Kendra Sangathan (NYKS) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). CII has been associated in the Programme since the last KIP for their professional experience in this field. 

3. The proposed Programme will involve a total of three weeks stay in India for 40 participants consisting of Diaspora Youth professionals and students in the age group of 18-26 years . A variety of programmes will be arranged in Delhi and Tamil Nadu, highlights of which are – calls on the dignitaries in Government, visits to places of cultural, rural and industrial interest, in both Delhi and Tamil Nadu, and stay in a city of the latter State. They will also participate in projects on environment, primary education, rural health, etc. A visit to Agra is also included in the programme. 

4. Broad guidelines for the Programme are given below:

(i) The participant should have distinguished himself/herself in a particular field, should have abiding interest in India and links with India through parentage.

(ii) The participants should be in the age group of 18-26 years.

(iii) The nominations should be a good mix of boys and girls and contain the applicant’s bio-data, personal details including passport details and contact particulars. Nominations should also include two passport size photographs. Those who are genuinely interested in the Programme and have not been to India before will be preferred. 

(iv) The participants will have to pay for their international travel costs from their respective countries to Delhi and back. An amount equivalent to one-way fare by economy/excursion class will be reimbursed to them by the Embassy/Consulate after ensuring proof of participation and on production of receipt. The Ministry/State Government will bear, expenditure on internal travel, boarding lodging, etc. A per diem allowance of Rs.100/- per day will also be paid to the participants as out-of –pocket allowance.

(v) The 8th KIP will begin from CHENNAI (Tamil Nadu), instead of Delhi, hence the selected participants may arrive in Chennai on 26th December 2007. The participants will be brought to Delhi from Chennai after completion of the programme in Tamil Nadu. Selected participants may, therefore, book their final departure from Delhi on 18 January 2008.

(vi) Not more than 3 nominations will be accepted from one country.

(vii) The participant should not have participated in any previous KIP. 

5. You may like to disseminate this information among the young Indian Americans, who might not have received this information.

6. Selected participants will be issued gratis visa as a gesture of goodwill on the part of the Government. The participants should contact the Embassy/Consulate to get briefing on diverse aspects of India, the State and the objectives of the programme, before their departure.

7. Since nominations are likely to be received from several countries and slots for the Programme are limited, it may not be possible to accommodate all the nominations. 

8. Participants may contact Director(DS-I)/Under Secretary(DS-I) directly at e-mails dirss@moia.nic.in/usds2@moia.nic.in, for any further information. However, nominations have to be forwarded through Indian Missions abroad and have to be endorsed by Head of Missions before being considered for selection. Please fill the nomination/registration form. The nominations may also be endorsed to Shri Nakul Jain, Executive Officer, CII at nakul.jain@ciionline.org.

9. The nominations may please be sent to us (Mr. Sanjay Sinha, Minister (Community Affairs), Embassy of India, 2107 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008) latest by 30th November, 2007. Please note that nominations received after the above date will not be accepted.