Have you been living in abroad for many generations? You have heard from your grand father that your ancestors came from
A new scheme will allow millions of people of Indian origin to retrace their roots, generations after European colonizers took their ancestors across the seas to alien lands to work as indentured labourers, researchers say.
The "Ancestral Search Programme", set up by the ministry of culture's Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, will assist many of
Organisers say the scheme will focus on helping the descendents of around 13 million Indians shipped by British and French colonisers to work as labourers in sugarcane plantations on former island colonies in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
The coordinator of the scheme, Suresh Pillai, told Reuters that the program would specifically look at the period between 1834 and 1917. During this time, the colonizers took Indians as laborers and they properly recorded the names. The interested people would have to send as much information as possible such as, ship number, immigration number, old letters, photographs etc. It has been three days since the program has opened and 25 people have applied.
At this present age of globalization, transportation facility has developed. Hence, people are moving at a very fast pace from one country to another. Every year, a large number of people live their own country and settle down in foreign countries for various purposes. Indian government has taken up a good project. This would help the Indians who are living in abroad to keep in touch with their origins.
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