Pravasi Bharaitya Diwas was recently celebrated

Why in news?

• Pravasi Bharaitya Diwas was recently celebrated.

About Pravasi Bharaitya Diwas

• Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas is a day dedicated to the overseas Indian community and celebrated once every two years. This day is celebrated on January 09 by the people of India. The day has its roots from our ‘Father of The Nation,’ Mahatma Gandhi, who was the greatest Pravasi. He returned from South Africa in 1915 and led the Indian freedom movement. Therefore, marking this day, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has celebrated this day since 2003 from January 07-09 every year. This practice will bring together the Indians abroad to enrich knowledge, expertise, and skills to be shared in a common platform.
• This day came into effect in 2003, but in 2015 it was revised and was decided to be celebrated every two years. It was then a theme-based conference that was set up every year during the interim period.
• The conference invited various Indian communities abroad who are experts in their respective fields, policymakers, and stakeholders to come together and participate in the event.
• This day plays a significant role as the overseas Indian community gets a shared platform to get themselves engaged with the government and the native people of the land.