Pravasi Teerth Darshan Yojana

Launch Date: 22nd January, 2019
Launched by: Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Under this new scheme, a group of Indian diaspora will be taken on a tour of religious places in India twice a year, which will be sponsored by the government.
People of Indian-origin, whose age is between 45 and 65 can avail these benefits.
The first batch of 40 Indian-origin people participated at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas which was held in Varanasi.
The first preference will be given to the people from Girmitiya countries such as Mauritius, Fiji, Suriname, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and Jamaica.

Girmityas: People who are descendants of indentured Indian labourers are called Girmityas, brought to Fiji, Mauritius, East Africa, , South Africa, the Malay Peninsula, Caribbean and South America for working on sugarcane plantations. Countries, where these Indian labourers settled, are known as Girmitiya countries.
Mahatma Gandhi referred himself as first Girmitiya, coined the term.

15th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention was organized from 21st January to 23rd January 2019 instead of 9th January and was held at Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.
The theme for Pravasi Bharatiya Divas: "Role of Indian Diaspora in building a New India.”
Prime Minister of Mauritius, Pravind Jugnauth was the chief guest of this event.