NEW DELHI: The Government plans to open four centres in the Gulf, the United States, Europe and Kuala Lumpur to address the problems of non-resident Indians (NRIs) and persons of Indian origin (PIOs), said Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi here on Thursday.

Mr. Ravi said this would also facilitate their greater participation in nation building. The Ministry had begun the spadework for tightening the immigration laws, particularly those pertaining to licences for recruitment agencies.

Mr. Ravi said the decision on voting rights for NRIs was the result of persistent efforts by Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. With Kerala accounting for a sizable number of NRIs, particularly in the Gulf, there had been a demand for such a measure in the State.

Mr. Chandy had raised the matter several times with both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, he said.

Voting rights for NRIs

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday decided to amend the Representation of the People Act to confer voting rights on non-resident Indians to vote in parliamentary and Assembly elections, if they happen to be in their native place at the time of elections.

A Government spokesperson said a Bill to amend the Act would be introduced in the budget session of Parliament.

Chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Cabinet also approved the proposal of the Ministry of Company Affairs to amend the Companies Act to enable smooth implementation of its e-governance project.

The project envisages introduction of easy and secure online access to companies for various services of the Ministry, including filing of documents and also enabling public access to various corporate information that were required to be placed in the public domain.

It would, among other things, provide for introduction of digital signature certificates to prevent tampering of e-documents subsequent to their filing. The e-documents would be registered, maintained and inspected through electronic mode.

The Cabinet also approved signing of a protocol with Japan for avoiding double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income. The pact is expected to simulate flow of capital, technology and personnel between India and Japan and provide for tax stability.

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