The Non Resident Keralites Affairs abbreviated as NORKA is a department of the
Government of Kerala
Government of Kerala is the subnational government of the Indian state of Kerala. The government is led by a chief minister, who selects all the other ministers. The chief minister and their most senior ministers belong to the supreme decision ...
formed on 6 December 1996 to redress the grievances of
Non-Resident Keralites (NRKs).
[ ] It is the first of its kind formed in any
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
n state.
The department was formed in an attempt to strengthen the relationship between the NRKs and the Government of Kerala and to institutionalize the administrative framework.
The field agency of NORKA is known as the ''NORKA Roots'', which was set up in 2002 to act as an interface between the NRKs and the Government of Kerala.
It also acts as a forum for addressing the NRKs problem, safeguarding their rights and rehabilitating the returnees.
Amidst the
COVID-19 outbreak
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...
, the NORKA-Roots portal facilitated registration from people all around the world to request to return to
Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
. The portal also allowed people stuck in different states of the country to register on their site from 29 April 2020.
References
{{Reflist
External links
NORKAWorld Malayalee CouncilKERALA KALA SAMITI, BHUBANESWARALL INDIA MALAYALEE ASSOCIATION (AIMA)
1996 establishments in Kerala
Kerala diaspora
Government departments of Kerala
Diaspora ministries