NRIs to adopt 500 villages to uplift rural India

Rural villages in India will get a developmental thrust as Non-resident Indians (NRIs) residing in the US will adopt 500 villages. This will be announced at the Big Ideas for Better India conference that will be held in Silicon Valley on July 1. A statement released on Monday stated that the conference is organized by the Overseas Volunteer for Better India (OVBI) and it is expected to be attended by over 1,000 influential NRI leaders. Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar will deliver the keynote address at the event. OVBI president Satej Chaudhary said that the 500 villages have been chosen based on the highest farmers suicide rates, high unemployment rates and villages that need immediate support. The event will also address issues that plague India in the fields of agriculture, governance and human trafficking. Satej said that they are bringing together geoscientists, agricultural experts and entrepreneurs to chalk out ways that will help double the income of Indian farmers by 2022. The OVBI had organized a water summit last year that helped in the meeting of many specialists from the USA with the  Art of Living ground team to work on the river rejuvenation projects.