The Hindu : National : Nod for amending Citizenship Act

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jun 17, 2005

National

National

Nod for amending Citizenship Act

Diplomatic Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved amendments to the Citizenship Act, 1955, allowing all Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) access to dual citizenship as long as their home countries permitted it in some form or the other.

Fulfilling a public assurance given by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in January, the Cabinet also permitted amendment to the Allocation of Business Rules to permit the newly created Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs to issue notifications under Section 7B(1) of the 1955 Act and issue smart cards to registered Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs).

As per an amendment to the Citizenship Act during the rule of the National Democratic Alliance Government, only PIOs living in 16 countries, principally western nations, were entitled to dual citizenship.

However, on January 7, the Prime Minister promised a gathering of overseas Indians in Mumbai that he would work towards the goal of granting dual citizenship to every PIO that wanted it.

With Thursday's Cabinet decision, all PIOs, their children and grandchildren, who migrated to countries other than Bangladesh and Pakistan after January 26, 1950, or were eligible to become Indian citizens on this date, stand to benefit.

On April 28, Minister of State for Overseas Indian Affairs Jagdish Tytler told the Rajya Sabha that the Ministry of Home Affairs had received nearly 2,000 applications from Indian diplomatic offices for overseas Indian citizenship.

However, Mr. Tytler said the application form and the procedure for issuing an overseas Indian citizenship certificate were being revised / simplified by the Home Ministry.

``Hence, it was decided to put the scheme on hold to enable all applicants to avail themselves of the revised application form and the simplified procedure,'' Mr. Tytler said.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National