In fact, several NRIs participating in a two-hour session with finance minister Yashwant Sinha cited cases of tall promises made to them by certain chief ministers as well central government officials which not only fell through but also resulted in harassment and loss of money for them.

NRIs felt that all the praises and respect showered on them by ministers and government officials had remained confined to seminars and conferences and seldom translated into action when it came to implementation of policies for them and bureaucratic levels. Some NRIs felt that the two-dayconference being jointly organised by finance ministry's Indian Investment Centre and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) was not being attended by secretaries of several key economic ministries. "The actual decision makers, who we were told would be there, are not participating," a US-based NRI told the finance minister.

A few NRIs also raised the issue of changing the mind set of government while approaching NRIs. "The government always wants our dollars but nobody has cared to attract knowledge and intellect of the NRIs for development of India," another NRI said. Another NRI raised the issue of total lack of efforts on the part of the government to highlight the positive aspects about the country in international media. To this the finance minister admitted that even he had come across NRIs during his recent visits abroad who were not aware of what was happening on the economic front in India. "We must lobby with the USA strongly. There is no effort to market the country.

Foreign media is full of only negative news about India. One may argue that perceptions are not always true but they still matter," another NRI said.Several NRIs cited bitter experiences they have had with the political and bureaucratic machinery after they had invested money in business ventures in the country.