The students facing deportation from Canada will now receive assistance as the Punjab NRI Affairs Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, on Thursday June 8, said the state government will provide free legal assistance to the students.

Most of the students who are on the brink of being deported are from Punjab and the minister said that they will be assisted by lawyers who are experts in immigration laws in Canada. The minister has also written a letter to all MPs of Punjab origin in Canada to solve the issues of these students so that the future of the children can be secured, reports IANS.

Stricter immigration policies
The NRI Affairs Minister expressed his concern over the travel agents who are running these immigration agencies illegally and for that, he issued instructions to all Deputy Commissioners and the SSPs (Senior Superintendent of Police) to scrutinise the documents of travel agents and immigration agencies and send a report by Monday, July 10.

The minister further added that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has already given clear instructions to improve the existing immigration system. He said if the system would be transparent and clean, then there would be less scope for human trafficking by illegal travel and immigration agencies. He said a special campaign against fake travel agents and immigration agencies would soon be launched in Punjab.

Prioritising the NRIs
In a meeting with civil and police officers associated with the NRI Department, the minister said in the past 10 years, if any Punjabi immigrant has been deliberately implicated in a wrong case, it should be brought to their attention. Such cases will be investigated and justice will be given to the victim.

In another initiative taken by the government, NRI meetings will be held for the first time in those villages whose immigrants have done good work in their villages or earned a name at the national or international level.

Dhaliwal said the NRI meetings will be held at the district level from July 15 to August 30. He invited all non-resident Punjabis to bring their problems during NRI meetings and efforts will be made to solve every problem on the spot.