Africa-Press – Mauritius. The Minister of Gender Equality and Family Welfare, Mrs Kalpana Devi Koonjoo-Shah, intervened today, via video conference, from her office in Port-Louis, as a key speaker during the Inaugural Session of the Virtual Girmitiya Conference 2021.
The conference, which is being held on 16 and 17 September 2021, is organised by the India Foundation with the support of the Overseas Indian Affairs Division of the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India.
The conference focuses on India’s indentured labourers and their descendants and is exploring the following themes: the making of the Girmit Diaspora; the Burden of History; Voices from the Diaspora; Keeping Indian Culture Alive; and Girmitiyas and India.
One of the features that the Conference hopes to throw light on is that, despite the vast geographical dispersion, the evolution of Girmitiya societies have generally followed a similar pattern.
During her intervention, Minister Koonjoo-Shah shared with participants a brief history of how and why indentured labourers came to Mauritius and dwelt on their fight for social advancement.
She also seized this opportunity to share her reflections on how indentured labourers, among others, have enabled Mauritius to become nowadays a vibrant welfare state, with a diversified economy.
