Gold card visa opens doors for US firms to employ Indian graduates, says President Trump
Washington DC: US President Donald Trump has announced in the backdrop of his new ‘gold card’ visa offer that American companies can use the initiative to hire Indians who graduate from US universities.
President Trump had offered ‘gold card’ visas for $5 million, in place of the old visas, to help the immigrants get US citizenship. Driven by Trump’s mindset of everything being a business, the initiative is set to come into force by April, with around 10 million card visas likely to be offered in the initial phase.
It would also replace the current EB-5 visa program that gives residency to investors for at least $1 million for business houses that have 10 or more employees.
The new announcement is considered to be a boost for Indian students, with the President highlighting on how the current immigration policy had prevented people from all over the world, particularly India, from staying and working in the US. He said that the immigrants study at various universities in the US and apply for jobs, but their applications are rejected as the employer had no clue about the eligibility of the applicant to stay in the US.
When asked about the consequences of the new policy, Trump admitted that talented people who had studied in the US earlier had been forced to leave the country but had become successful entrepreneurs in their native countries. "They go back to India, or they go back to the country where they came from, and they open up a company, and they become billionaires. They're employing thousands of people," he said. He also stressed on the fact that the US missed the economic opportunity of utilizing such talent.
The President has presented his new gold card initiative as a positive alternative to the current green card, stating that the gold card would provide long-term residency and a pathway to citizenship. Calling the gold card program a game changer, Trump said about the card-holders, "They'll be wealthy, and they'll be successful, and they'll be spending a lot of money and paying a lot of taxes and employing a lot of people, and we think it's going to be extremely successful."
The initiative is also considered as a benefit for the US as it would be a means to generate revenue. "If we sell a million (cards), that's USD 5 trillion dollars," Trump said and added that the revenue could be used to pay off national debt.
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Maharashtra sets up state vaccination task force to strengthen immunisation programme
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has set up a State Vaccination Task Force to strengthen the regular immunisation programme and review the progress of related campaigns, a health department official said on Monday.
The State Vaccination Task Force will comprise at least 29 members and will be headed by the administrative head of the health department, he informed.
The government has also constituted separate district-level and municipal vaccination task forces to improve implementation and address challenges at the grassroots level, he said.
Municipal task forces, chaired by respective civic commissioners, have been constituted in view of the vast urban population in Maharashtra and the role of civic bodies in implementing different health programmes.
The district-level task forces will function under the chairmanship of collectors.
"Complete immunisation of children at the appropriate age is an extremely simple, cost-effective and highly effective measure to reduce child mortality and the prevalence of diseases among kids. Immunisation is a powerful tool for reducing illness in children," maintained the official.
To ensure full vaccination of all children, the state government implements various campaigns from time to time as per the central government guidelines, he pointed out.
"Active participation and cooperation of other relevant government departments are essential (in making these campaigns successful)," according to the official.
The state-level body will review the regular immunisation programme, associated campaigns and vaccine-preventable diseases in detail. It will also conduct focused assessments of high-risk districts and municipal corporations, including vacancies at district, municipal and sub-district levels, availability of cold chain equipment, resource gaps and training requirements, he noted.
The state task force will review allocation and utilisation of funds for immunisation and ensure timely action by officers concerned based on reports from district and municipal task forces and state-level monitoring mechanisms, the official said.
It will also ensure active coordination and participation of other government departments in immunisation drives, while district and municipal task forces will carry out similar functions at their respective levels, the official added.
