HYDERABAD, India, 8 January 2006 — India plans to allow millions of its nationals working in the Gulf to vote in elections back home. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said yesterday that his government would soon take “appropriate measures” in this regard
“Overseas Indians in the Gulf are unique. They are non-resident Indians who will never become citizens of those countries,” the prime minister said in his inaugural address at a gathering of overseas Indians.
“Most of them have immediate families back in India and thus have a vital stake in local governance, including the issue of who should represent them in the state assembly or the national Parliament,” Manmohan said.
“Their demand seeking voting rights at home has, therefore, a convincing political basis. This proposal is at an advanced stage of consideration by our government. We hope to take appropriate measures in this regard soon,” he said.
There are more than three million Indian workers and professionals in the Gulf and they make up more than 60 percent of all Indian expatriates across the globe. Of the 3.6 million Indian workers in the Gulf, 1.5 million reside in Saudi Arabia, one million in the United Arab Emirates, about half a million each in Oman and Kuwait, and 100,000 each in Bahrain and Qatar. More than 50 percent of these Indians come from the southern state of Kerala.
There are more than 20 million Indian nationals or people of Indian origin across the world including hundreds of thousands in the United States, Europe and Africa. Remittances from overseas Indian workers jumped to $20 billion in 2005 from over $13 billion in 2001 and New Delhi is keen to tap their growing financial clout and professional talent to boost India’s robust economy, one of the world’s fastest growing.
Inaugurating the fourth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas convention here, Manmohan said that at last year’s convention he had declared the government’s intention to make sure that one day every person of Indian origin living anywhere in the world could aspire to become a citizen of India. “As an important first step, we have delivered on our promise to grant the status of Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) to eligible applicants. The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs will soon complete the process of rationalization of categories and ensure convergence of benefits,” he added.
Two persons of Indian origin — Nibritti Rai and Iftikhar Ahmed Sharif — were given the first OCI cards. An OCI card entitles the holder to a multiple entry, multi-purpose lifelong visa, exemption from registration with local police, parity with non-resident Indians in respect of economic, financial and educational fields, except in relation to acquisition of agricultural or plantation properties.
However, the OCI card holder is not entitled to vote, be a member of a legislative assembly or legislative council or Parliament, cannot hold constitutional posts such as president, vice president, judge of the Supreme Court or High Court and cannot normally hold employment in the government.
