NRI Institute is a NGO founded in 1989 for Indians, Non-Resident Indians and Persons of Indian Origin. It keeps the members informed about the achievements and problems of Pravasi Indians through conferences, seminars and exchange visits of delagations. The Institute also keeps NRIs informed about socio, political, economic and cultural events in India and promotes their interest in the heritage of India. NRI Institute has chapters in UK , USA , Canada , Angola , UAE, Oman , Thailand , Seychelles and Australia

On the occasion of their 'Awards Banquet in India', organized at the Imperial Hotel, New Delhi, the " Bharat Samman " awards were given to the selected NRIs who made significant contributions to India. Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha, Shri Charanjit Singh Atwal; Secretary of the Ministry of Overseas Indian affairs, Mr.S.Krishna Kumar; Member of Parliament, Mrs Najma Heptulla; and Secretary General of NRI Institute Mr Jagmohan Singh, were some of the key note speakers at the occasion.

The Executive Director of the Sehgal Foundation, Mr Rajat Jay Sehgal, accepted the award on behalf of the Foundation. He talked about the Foundation's mission, its grassroots activities, and expansion strategy. He quoted Dr Suri Sehgal , Founder and Chairman of the Foundation.

Quote from Dr. Sehgal:

"Prosperity has permitted me to take some initial steps towards returning to my country of origin, some of what it provided to me, not least, but the highly subsidized public education I received in India . It was Andrew Carnegie who said that by achieving wealth, we undertake an obligation to repay what we have gained - we are wealth's trustees for future generations. In that spirit, my family and I decided to create the Sehgal Family Foundation in 1999 to put our personal resources to work to help support sustainable village development."

For more information please refer to the following links:

Citation citation-nri.htm; Speech by Mr Jay Sehgal speech-nri.htm; Award certificate:award-nri.pdf

Other NRI's who received the "Bharat Samman" Award:

Mr. Arvind Joshi - USA  

For various services as Secretary Vishwa Gujarati Samaj and as Chairman (West Zone) Federation Gujarati Samaj of North America in promoting arts in Canada, UK, Malaysia, Singapore, California (USA) and significant contribution in making light, folk, devotional music popular performing over 1500 programs throughout the country.

Mr. Syed N. Masood - Saudi Arabia, Senior Vice President, Al Atawi Group of Companies, Riyadh

 For his excellence in managing as many as Eight varied divisions of Al Atawi Group of Companies, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and significant contribution in the field of education as Managing Committee Member of International Indian School.

 Mr. Rajan K. Sehgal - UK, Chairman, Skylord Group of Companies

For his contribution since 1983 to the travel industry as consolidator of 50 airlines and having a turnover of 25 million pounds. He has also sponsored for childrens' education in Bhilai.

Prof. Yasmin Thanavala, PhD - USA, Prof. & Member, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, New York

For her excellence in the Field of Cancer Research since 1969 and outstanding recognition in health advocacy and training the future scientists.

Mr. Sonjoy Chatterjee - UK, Managing Director & CEO, ICICI Bank UK

His significant contribution in help diversify Financial Services since 1994. ICICI Bank UK Ltd. - a 100% subsidiary of ICICI Bank Ltd. is India 's largest bank in the private sector.

For further information please contact:

The Sehgal Foundation
Ms. Veena Sehgal
289, Sector 17A,
Gurgaon, Haryana-122001, India