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NEWS
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New dept to take
care of NRIs soon NEW DELHI: The external affairs ministry is setting up a new department to exclusively deal with the problems of six million non-resident Indians (NRIs) and over 20 million persons of Indian origin (PIOs). An officer has been appointed for the department and the functions and responsibilities of this division are at present being worked out, the ministry told the parliamentary standing committee on external affairs. The decision would improve coordination among various ministries and departments to optimise the benefits of the governemt's policies for NRIs and PIOs, it said. In its report, tabled in the Lok Sabha earlier this week, the committee regretted the government's "lack of sensitivity and shortsightedness" in its approach towards NRIs and PIOs and asked the ministry to create a meaningful data-base on them. "The government has so far shown a lack of sensitivity and shortsightedness in their approach towards them, which is evident from the fact that there is a total dearth of data on their economic strength, their cultural concerns, their potentialities and contributions towards their motherland and on many other related issues," it said. The report said the ministry should create a meaningful database to formulate an acceptable blueprint of ideas dealing with this issue. "Moreover, a comprehensive holistic approach, greater sensitivity and political will is required to effectively deal with NRIs and PIOs for the country's benefit," it said. Terming NRIs and PIOs as "extremely valuable" for the country, the report was also critical of lack of coordination among various ministries and departments and complexities in the procedures dealing with the problems of NRIs and PIOs. The committee, however, hoped that the department being created by the ministry to exclusively deal with the problems of NRIs and PIOs would be adequately equipped to improve the coordination among various ministries and departments to derive optimal benefits of government's policies towards them and deal with their problems in an integrated manner. It felt that the ministry should explore the possibilities of setting up information centres or public relations offices at each of the important missions particularly in the Gulf countries. This was so because Gulf countries had a large concentration of Indian workers to provide them all possible assistance in times of distress, specially in terms of providing shelters for the hapless workers who are forced to flee due to ill-treatment of their employers. The ministry said that recognising the significant role played by NRIs and PIOs in shaping the country's destiny, the government last year launched the PIO card scheme. All preparations have been completed for the issue of PIO cards from missions and posts abroad. On whether the ministry had ever considered conferring dual citizenship to NRIs and PIOs, foreign secretary Lalit Mansingh informed the committee that the issue of granting dual citizenship to NRIs and particularly PIOs was "complex and very sensitive". He said PIOs were citizens of another country and to rush to give them Indian citizenship without considering their own position in their respective countries would not be advisable. Explaining the technical difficulties in providing dual citizenship, Mansingh said before considering dual nationality, "we have to consider first a definition of those who are eligible for it. It will probably make millions of persons of neighbouring countries eligible for our nationality and for free access to India, which will be a security threat". "Moreover, it is not possible to select certain PIOs for conferring dual citizenship and exclude certain people," Mansingh said. Keeping this in view, the foreign secretary said that after due consideration the government has taken the view that many of the grievances of PIOs abroad could be met through the PIO card, which is essentially like a passport. "It enables the holders to have access to India for a period of twenty years without applying for a visa. In addition, it gives opportunity to the children of Indian origin to come and study in educational institutions in India. To a limited extent, it also enables them to acquire property in India," he added. (PTI) |
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