The Indian Diaspora Council (IDC) held discussions on the 100th Anniversary Celebration of Abolition of Indian Indentureship with Shri Dnyaneshwar Mulay, Secretary of Overseas Indian Affairs (OIA) of the Ministry of External Affairs during a brief stop in New York by Secretary Mulay on November 14, 2016. IDC was represented by its president, Ashook Ramsaran.

March 20, 2017 marks the Centennial of the official abolition of Indian Indenturedship, an era spanning 1834-1917. The history and consequences of Indian Indenturedship are deeply embedded with importance, meaningful history and reflections to millions of descendants living in many countries which were the recipients of Indian Indentured labourers: Mauritius, Fiji, South Africa, Reunion Island, Francophone countries, Malaysia, Trinidad, Suriname, Guyana and other countries of the Caribbean; as well as second migration to USA, Canada, UK, Netherlands, France, etc.

The discussions centered around OIA’s participation and collaboration with IDC on a series of global events commemorating the centennial and concluding with the Global Indian Diaspora Convention scheduled for 17th – 20th March 2017 in Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago. In addition, IDC discussed a comprehensive profile of OIA and MEA in upcoming publication “Centennial of Abolition of Indian Indenturedship: End of an Era of Indian Migration, New Frontiers and Achievements”.