JEDDAH, 30 April 2006 — A meeting of Indian expatriates here on Friday night reiterated their demand for the abolition of domicile status that is required for admission to higher and professional courses in their home country.
The meeting, presided over by Afsar Faheem, member of the non-resident Indian (NRI) study group of the government of the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, decided to take up the issue with State Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy.
Faheem said he had submitted a memorandum to Mohammed Ali Shabbir, minister of information and public relations and chairman of the APNRI cell, listing the grievances of the community, including the problems faced by students in the Kingdom and elsewhere in the Gulf due to the requirement of domicile status.
“Gulf-based NRIs are essentially overseas contract workers. Unlike the NRIs in Western countries, their counterparts in the Gulf have to return home once their employment contracts expire or are terminated. Moreover, their children follow the Central Board of Secondary Education syllabus and need to go home for pursuing higher education or professional courses.
“Against this background, the requirement of domicile status should be done away with,” Faheem said.
The Andhra Pradesh government specifies that a student must study continuously for a minimum of four years in the state in order to achieve domicile status.
