IGNOU to have a centre for diasporic studies

The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) will soon be setting up a centre for 'Diasporic Studies' at its campus here.

"The university is in the process of setting up a diasporic centre in its campus," IGNOU Vice Chancellor VN Rajasekharan Pillai said on Friday.

He was speaking at the conclusion of a two-day conference on diaspora and development, attended by experts from more than 25 countries.

The centre will address the socio-economic, political, cultural and gender issues to help understand the linkages between diaspora and development, according to IGNOU.

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Secretary in the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs A. Didar Singh said that connotations of the term 'diaspora' had gone far beyond forced exile and desire for homeland.

"Diaspora today has become a generic concept of a trans-national population, and India represents this concept in a major way," Singh said.