May 25, 2004 Indian School News More

Indian School Seeb – New School Building MOU cancelled

The future of Indian school Seeb has plunged in to darkness after cancellation of MOU signed under patronage of previous Indian Ambassador Mr. Meena - with a private firm to build New school Building with a big ground & recreational facilties.

At present school functions in 3 different premises & parents are finding it very difficult to drop their children at different locations. The condition of existing buildings & class rooms is pathetic. There is no open space for games & recreational activities. There is an urgent need of custom built school & previous School Committee along with the Board & under the patronage of previous Indian Ambassador had already completed all the formalities for the construction which should have started & completed by the beginning of the academic year , April 2004.

Unfortunately change of Guard in the Embassy & in The Board resulted in to an unnecessary delay in the process. The REASON for cancellation as per one official ( told unofficially) is that the “strength of students reached “- is below the expectation ….so the project is not viable….& the Private party with whom MOU was signed is asking for some renegotiation as the construction cost has shot up sharply.

BUT THE FACT IS ………purposeful delay in commencing the construction as per the original MOU on the part of New Board & management committee responsible, has resulted in to this situation…..

Regarding No. of students ….. Many more parents are in fact waiting for the new school premises to come up so that they can admit their children. There are also many parents waiting to shift their children from other Indian school near by due to substantially lower fees in Seeb school. At present the school is in no position to accommodate any more children since all the three premises are fully utilised & there is no extra space left. There is every possibility that the School will easily reach a strength of 1500, as soon as the new school premises is ready.

It seems fear of loosing MONOPOLY by an Indian School in vicinity is one of the factors acting behind the curtain responsible for the whole scenario.

Anyway it is very unfortunate this has happened … The poor Indian community staying in SEEB area will have to bear with this for along time till new arrangements are made …When !? no body knows….
WILL NEW H.E THE INDIAN AMBASSADOR TAKE URGENT STEPS ?!

WHOM SHOULD THE POOR PARENTS APPROACH ?!

Indian School Seeb goes Private as E Ahmed Becomes Minister

I hereby agrees to be a Minister off the people, buy the people and far the people?

MUSCAT - The Seeb Indian community School, which was created after a protracted struggle between the former Indian ambassador to Muscat K M Meena and a coterie of Indian businessmen with political patronage, is all set to go to the private hands. According to KM sources, a Memorandum of Understanding signed to construct a school building that can accommodate the growing number of students is already cancelled and the Indian ambassador in Muscat, Talmiz Ahmed is working covertly with the Indian school board which consist of private school lobby representatives to convert the community school into a private business venture. It may be recalled that the former ambassador Meena was prematurely transferred from Muscat due to the influence of E Ahmed, Kerala Muslim League leader, who is the lone UDF candidate got elected in the recent parliament elections.

for Talmiz Ahmed Indian Ambassador in Muscat --friendship matters. He was posted in Muscat with a special mission to reverse the pro community school reforms introduced by K M Meena.

The school which mainly caters to the low income earning Non Resident Keralites industrial workers residing in the Seeb Al Ruwail industrial area has been a major embarassment to other Indian schools in Oman which charge very high fees without any reasoning. Another adjacent school - the Indian School Al Ghurba -is controlled by E Ahmed and a cotery of business lobby. Raeez Ahmed, son of the new ly swon in Central Minister, is the president of Indian school Al Ghubra , which is credited with the unique position of charging the highest fees charged by any Indian Schools in the Gulf. P C Thomas, former Minister of Law, E Ahmed and a number of Indian politicians had lobbied to run the school as a private venture. However, since the Omani education law prohibited private individuals from starting community schools and the former ambassador was determined to prevent exploitation of the common man, the private lobby could not succeed in their mission to start a private school. The school was originally given to George Mathew, who had hurried signed a MoU with a former ambassador

(Satnaam Singh. Even before E Ahmed assumed charge as a union minister, his associates in Muscat have started nefarious moves to regain the school. The Kerala electorate expressed their displeasure over the UDF policy of commercialising education and following anti people economic policies. The lone UDF candiate is setting another example to follow anti poor and anti community policies. Talmiz Ahmed, his friend and university mate, is doing the groundwork for the rest.."The Ministry of Education will not allow the school to function from three buildings. The current move is intended to create problems for the smooth running of the Seeb School.," said sources. .Watch this space.

Dont Tax Poor NRIs...

Pravasi Bandhu Welfare Trust
Post Box No. 940
Sharjah, UAE
www.pravasibandhu.com
Email: pravasibandhu@hotmail.com

Shri Manmohan Singh
Primeminister of India
New Delhi

Dear Sir,


SUB: PLEASE DO NOT TAX NRIs

Non Residents Indians, mainly Indian workers from GCC countries are one of the major sources of foreign currency reserves in India. Last year the NRIs remitted a total of US$ 20 billion, out of that 75% are from Indians working in the GCC countries. During the foreign currency crisis NRIs were extended their full support to the country by investing in India Development Bonds, Resurgent India Bonds and India Millennium Deposits.

Now we have very comfortable foreign currency reserves to the tune of US$120 billion. Seeing the current situation, Reserve Bank of India is proposing to tax interest income on NRI deposits. On behalf of Non Resident Indians, Pravasi Bandhu Welfare Trust appeal to the Prime minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, finance minister Shri P Chidambaram, Minister of Non Resident Indians Shri Jagadish Taitler and Reserve Bank of India NOT TO TAX INTEREST INCOME ON NRI DEPOSITS. We are not expecting this kind of unfriendly approach on NRI community.

Pravasi Bandhu Welfare Trust is charitable organization it is putting all efforts to use non-resident Indian resources for the benefit of the society and the nation. We are teaching middle-income non-resident Indians and their dependents how to control of expenditure and save maximum and invest properly for the creation of assets for the retirement. We motivate people for the optimum utilization of the work culture, experience, expertise, knowledge, know-how and business contacts gained from abroad for the benefit of the country.

K V Shamsudheen
Chairman
Pravasi Bandhu Welfare Trust
www.pravasibandhu.com

CC: Shri P Chidambaram, Minister of Finance
Shri Jagdish Traitler, Minister for Non Resident Indians
Governor, Reserve Bank of India

Alpha Tours launches outbound holiday company

Alpha Holidays offers "competitively priced" turnkey solution

Rajeev Chowdhry, the newly appointed general manager of Alpha Holidays

Dubai May 2004 : Alpha Tours, the leading Dubai-based destination management company (DMC) has announced the launch of its first outbound travel company, Alpha Holidays. This move comes as Alpha Tours embarks on a regional growth strategy that should see its presence in the Middle East market increase exponentially over the next five years.

According to Rajeev Chowdhry, the newly appointed general manager of Alpha Holidays, there is a niche in the local market for a turnkey holiday operation, but at competitive prices.He said: "There has never been a better time for a company like ours to launch. Regional travel is booming all year round, while international travel continues to rise, albeit on a more seasonal basis."Meanwhile, international travellers are becoming increasingly market-aware, and price-conscious. They want holiday packages that are customised to their requirements - and at value for money, whether a budget family holiday or a luxury corporate retreat."

Chowdhry tipped intra-regional tourism and short-haul destinations from Arabia for further growth. He said: "Regional travel will always remain our primary consideration, and any introduction of a single GCC visa and currency will see this multiply."Further afield, he identified China, Eastern Europe and North and West Africa as emerging markets outbound from the Middle East. "Looking ahead to 2005, and we see real potential for business in Lebanon, Malaysia, UK, France and Spain by 2005, and adding China, Tunisia and the Czech Republic by 2010."

Alpha Holidays' core business is wholesale, and therefore Alpha Tours' key alliances with the regional travel trade provide an excellent database to start. "Our parent company Alpha Tours already services key accounts to the UAE from the region, and servicing these clients and their peers will be our immediate short-term objective.

"Over the longer-term, we will harness the global reach of web-based solutions and believe that our ability to buy global services from one source, whether in-bound or outbound, will see both companies grow exponentially," added Chowdhry.According to Chowdhry, an absence of a formal airline affiliation means Alpha Holidays can source the best holiday packages for customers, whether terms of pricing or convenience. "This personalised attention, coupled with a solid network of alliances through the international travel trade enables our team to negotiate better deals with suppliers.

"Arabia is one of the fastest-growing consumer markets for tourism and hospitality (T&H) and I believe that carefully structured product offering and pricing strategy will see a win-win situation for ourselves and our customers," he concluded.

Alpha Holidays covers more than 60 destinations, and services include accommodation at more than 3,000 hotels worldwide, special interest tours, inclusive holiday packages, private charters through the sister company ExecuJet, and destination management services to the UAE through Alpha Tours.Alpha Holidays, a division of Alpha Tours LLC, is part of the Alpha 55 Group of Companies. Alpha Holidays, a division of Alpha Tours LLC, uses a blend or corporate and leisure travel options to provide a one-stop travel solution to customers in the UAE and beyond


Schools lobby behind my early exit: ambassador
From Ravindra Nath Khaleej Times Oman correspondent)

20 May 2003 MUSCAT - Outgoing Indian Ambassador Kajor Mal Meena, who is leaving after barely two years in the job, said yesterday he was happy that he had been able to give a big push to economic ties between his country and Oman.K.M. Meena, however, feels that a 'powerful school lobby' here in collusion with some Indian politicians and bureaucrats has played a role in his early departure after he attempted to reform administration of Indian schools in the Sultanate. Mr Meena withdrew the nomination of two members of the board, following which all members resigned. A new board was appointed and it started functioning smoothly, but then the highly controversial issue of the ownership of the new school in Seeb erupted. Its ownership had been given to a private individual with whom the former ambassador, Satnam Jit Singh, signed an agreement after protracted discussions. "There was a lot of resentment among Indians over the issue. They felt that the school should be run by the community instead of an individual for whom it was a commercial proposition," Mr Meena, who revoked the deal, said, adding: "I wrote to the External Affairs Ministry in Delhi, explaining the situation... The ministry kept dilly-dallying. Also there was considerable political lobbying in favour of private ownership by some MPs from Kerala. "Meanwhile, I obtained legal opinion and found that Ministry of Education rules in Oman strictly stipulate that all expatriate community schools must be entirely owned by the respective embassies. No private ownership is allowed and such schools should not be commercial ventures.Full Report http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2003/May/middleeast_May400.xml&section=middleeast&col=

Agreement signed to Construct Building for Seeb Indian School

MUSCAT -The Indian School Seeb has entered into an agreement with a builder to construct a school building. The new building can accommodate minimum 1000 students in the first phase. At a time when the business tycoons and greedy NRIs are spreading baseless rumours about the future of Indian School Seeb to create panic among parents, the concerned authorities - School Management Committee and members of the board responsible for Seeb School operations - have already signed an agreement to construct the school building. "This is to reiterate our commitment to run Indian School Seeb as a community school." said the school sources. Whatever the local media say about the Indian Ambassador, K.M.Meena, nobody can dispute the fact that the successful running of Indian School Seeb is a proof that the school reform has been helpful to ordinary middle class and lower middle class parents.More

November 16, 2001

Indian School Muscat may run Indian School Seeb

keralamonitor.com

The proposed new Indian school in the Seeb-al Hail area is likely to remain a full fledged community school rather than a privately sponsored one as publicised by the promoters. It is learned that the higher authorities have reversed the decision of former Indian Ambassador Satnam Sing and decided that the proposed Indian school in Seeb will function purely as a community school. The higher authorities are of the view that the Indian community interest will be best served by a community school, which serves the ordinary Indian community members rather than a private school, which serves the promoters business interests. The proposed school will accommodate about 2,000 students in the first year of operation. Even though the Ministry of Education in Oman has granted the final sanction for the school recently, the Indian Ambassador seems to have taken a different view in favour of a community school. Earlier Reports on Indian School Seeb More

http://www.keralamonitor.com/schoolseeb.html

June 24, 2002. keralamonitor.com

Keralamonitor.com's last report on Indian Schools

Indian Government approves community school in Seeb

by M.P. Prasanna Kumar and our Gulf correspondent

New Delhi - The Ministry of External Affairs here has asked the Indian Ambassador in Muscat to go ahead with his plans to start a community school in the interior part of Al Hail area from next academic year itself. The Ambassador K.M. Meena had referred the controversial Seeb school project allotted to a private individual by his predecessor to the MEA, which has now decided to favourably consider his report. The higher officials have acknowledged that a community school would serve the ordinary Indians better than a private school as planned earlier. The MEA officials have detected that the Seeb school was sanctioned without the former ambassador referring the case to the Indian Government approval. Large number of parents who have opted for the Seeb school will not face any difficulty in the next academic year as all the students will be absorbed in the community school.

Keralamonitor.com, which has been reporting about the Seeb School project from the day one congratulates K.M. Meena for his victory, despite carrying on a successful fight against all odds. Despite pressure tactics from various corners, we have been strongly supporting the Ambassador in his lone battle for serving the community interests. The school has already identified a building and other formalities are being worked out by the Indian School Muscat. The Ambassador, patron of Indian schools, may directly monitor the functioning of the new school.

It may function either as a branch of Indian school Muscat or as an independent school. This will be probably our last report on Indian school Seeb issue because our intention was never to target any individuals or businessmen, but to highlight the problems facing common parents. Keralamonitor.com would not succumb to any sort of pressure tactics and would continue to work as an independent medium, highlighting some of our issues, without questioning the authority of any political system or Governments.

The Indian school Seeb will start functioning from the new academic year itself as a community school, which will be probably working with the lowest fees charged by majority of Indian schools . The Government of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos has favourably considered the Ambassador's views for starting the community school. The Ambassador has appreciated the Omani government's commitment for social and economic development of the Indian community in Oman.

Now there is no need for further lobbying on the matter as the Indian Government is understood to have closed the Indian School Seeb file. The issue may not be questioned in courts, because the Ambassador and Indian Embassy enjoys diplomatic immunity. Everybody should accept the ground reality and continue to leave peacefully without raking up any other issues related to the Indian schools in the Gulf. The patron should also note that the new school should run without any community leaders trying to make money out of it. Whether it is private or public institutions, corruption is corruption and the patron should closely monitor various aspects of the school functioning. (keralamonitor.com)

Controversial Private School MoU Goes Public

Undue favours to Private Promoters

An Agreement was executed at Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, on the 26th day of March 1992 between the then Indian Ambassador Ranjith Guptha and the Hindu Mahajan Association, Muscat President Kanaksi G. Khimji. This was regarding the schools run by the Association in Muttrah and Sohar. As per the agreement, the Indian Ambassador, the patron of Indian Schools, was convinced of the need to provide consistent and appropriate educational facilities to the children of the Indian community residing in the Sultanate of Oman. Therefore the then patron Ranjith Guptha sponsored to the concerned authorities in Oman and gave his consent to the Hindu Mahajan Association (HMA) to continue to manage and run Indian School Muttra (which is now the Indian School Wadi Kabir) and Indian School Sohar. More

P.C.Thomas, other politicians interfere in Indian School issue

keralamonitor correspondent

New Delhi: Considerable political pressure is being exerted on the Indian Ambassador in Muscat K.M.Meena by school promoter so that the Patron of Indian Schools give up his much Indian school reform agenda and allow private promoters to make quick bucks from Indian schools in Oman. It is reliably learnt that Mr.George Mathew, the private promoter of the proposed school in Seeb has been shuttling between New Delhi, Thiruvananthapuram and Muscat to influence Indian politicians from both the ruling coalition and opposition to sabotage the Indian Ambassador's plan to rationalise fees structure in favour of large number of ordinary parents and encourage community schools, which are much cheaper than the private schools.

    P.C.Thomas, Member of Parliament from Kerala.
    Champion of the poor in covert alliance with NRI business lobyy?

With the support of Kerala politicians the private school promoter is lobbying strongly to see to it that the new school in Seeb becomes another private school through which ordinary parents can be looted. P.C.Thomas, who has been reportedly planning to cross the floors and join the BJP led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government in New Delhi has been hobnobbing the idea of becoming an Central Cabinet Minister for long. Even before he formally joined the NDA -- ditching thousands of voters who elected him on a different political agenda -he has already started using his clout with the Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh to reverse the Indian Ambassador's decision to revoke a biased agreement signed between the Indian Embassy (during the previous Ambassador's regime) and the private promoter George Mathew.More

More on the transfer of KM Meena from Muscat

Seeb School to remain Community School

Regarding the Seeb School, one of the controversial projects, the school management committee is keen that the building is completed within six months from August as per the design given by the board. Currently about 900 students are studying in two shifts due to space problem. George Mathew, the original promoter who planned to make it a private school, has been lobbying to get back the project. However, it is unlikely that the new ambassador will reverse the process and give the school to him in a platter. The board has created a new plaque for the building foundation with inscriptions about the role of K M Meena in making the school a reality. KM hopes that the school foundation will be adored with that plaque to commemorate the former patron's heroic fight against all odds to make it a community school. It has come as a great relief to the Indian community, especially the industrial workers, residing in the area. Those who have been conducting campaign against the former Ambassador termed his initiatives as "interference". The ambassador is supposed to be working for the good of the common man and if the embassy interfered in the matter, no need to grumble because it has done only its job.More on Meena and Indian Schools More