- News>
- Newspapers
PIO ghar aya: The Pioneer
New Delhi, Dec 29: The Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas, billed as the reunion of the global Indian family, has become a regular feature in the New Year`s calendar.
New Delhi, Dec 29: The Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas, billed as the reunion of the global Indian family, has become a regular feature in the New Year's calendar. Overseas Indians gather on January 9 for a three-day fiesta in Delhi; of late it is showing signs of becoming a fixture. The Government paved the way for a successful conference by fulfilling two assurances given by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at the first pravasi diwas; dual citizenship and an insurance scheme for blue-collar workers going abroad.
The Lok Sabha passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2003, on the last day of the Winter session of Parliament. The Pravasi Bima Yojana was also notified recently as a compulsory insurance scheme for all those who require immigration clearance from the Protector of Immigration before going abroad to work. The scheme provides a safety net for the skilled and semi-skilled workers in the Gulf region.
Dual citizenship has been a long-standing demand of Indians living in the US and Britain. The Dual Citizenship Bill was introduced in the Budget session and referred to the parliamentary standing committee for consideration. The Government's keenness to pass the legislation was evident as it agreed to several amendments suggested by the committee members. The Lok Sabha's list of business was revised to enable the Bill to be taken up for consideration in the House the day before the session ended. Despite the earlier objections of several senior politicians to the dual citizenship concept, the Bill was passed without much difficulty. While moving the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2003, in Parliament, Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani said that dual citizenship would help overseas Indians to contribute to India's development.
It is a sign of the growing influence of the Indian diaspora that the Bill was passed with the support of major political parties including the Congress, the AIADMK and the RJD. Though a few Opposition members questioned the need to pander to the overseas Indians, the majority opinion was for the Bill, which was passed after a short discussion. The Bill is likely to be notified after receiving the President's assent by January 9. It provides the facility of dual citizenship to persons of Indian origin (PIO) who are citizens of 16 specified countries. It will allow citizens of Indian origin of these 16 countries, which allow dual citizenship to their nationals, to acquire Indian passports. It will make it easier for first generation Indian migrants to these countries to adopt the new citizenship while retaining overseas Indian citizenship.
The United States allowed dual citizenship in 1967 when the US Supreme Court upheld the right of citizens to hold a foreign passport. Increasingly in the US, immigrants are maintaining their ties to their homelands, just as people born in America are reconnecting with their roots abroad. France and UK allow dual passports while Australia amended its Citizenship Act in early 2003 to allow Australians born in Australia to hold dual citizenship. Earlier, only Australians born overseas could hold dual citizenship. It is a growing trend worldwide with increasing number of immigrants; in recent years Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil and the Dominican Republic have allowed dual citizenship.
Ten Pravasi Sammans were awarded at the last conference, and these have become coveted symbols of recognition and honour in the homeland among the elite sections of the diaspora. Lobbying and canvassing for the awards have acquired a hectic pace as the conference draws near.
While India celebrates the achievements and contributions of the Indian diaspora, there is a strongly negative undercurrent to the overseas Indians' visits to India. It is the large number of young Indian women abandoned by their newly-wedded foreign-returned grooms when their husbands come home. It is a problem of increasing proportions, especially in Punjab where an NRI (Non-Resident Indian) spouse is highly prized by parents looking to arrange marriages for their children. Punjab's small towns abound with advertisements for finishing schools that groom young girls as NRI brides, but the number of abandoned wives and children too has increased with the years.
Such cases involve legal battles over divorce, maintenance and child custody with limited chances of redressal because of the distances and different legal systems involved. The Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, Mr JC Sharma, explained there were issues pertaining to recognition of marriages, ex-parte divorces obtained in the foreign country, and the enforcement of decrees passed by Indian courts. The Government had organised a seminar in early December involving legal experts and academics to discuss the issues of personal international law.
The Pravasi Diwas would have a session on matters relating to personal international law and how to make Indian laws compatible with international regulations to provide legal remedies to Indians citizens. India is not a signatory to the several Hague conventions that govern international private law on the custody and adoption of children.
Another area of focus at the conference will be the Gulf region. A major part of India's burgeoning foreign exchange reserves are from the inward remittances of the approximately 3.5 million Indians living in the Gulf countries. Indians in the Gulf are mainly expatriates on short-term contracts, many of whom feel their interests and concerns get lost in the wooing of the larger diaspora. The concessions offered to returning expatriates were drastically reduced in the last Budget. The Gulf region is facing the impact of growing unemployment among the local youth with stagnant oil revenues. Several countries have introduced policies that seek to substitute local youth for many categories of jobs that will reduce employment available to outsiders.
The diaspora has many segments, each with different needs and expectations. The chairman of the organising committee, Mr LM Singhvi, said the second Pravasi Diwas would be an occasion to renew bonds and to build on what was achieved in the last conference.
Dual citizenship has been a long-standing demand of Indians living in the US and Britain. The Dual Citizenship Bill was introduced in the Budget session and referred to the parliamentary standing committee for consideration. The Government's keenness to pass the legislation was evident as it agreed to several amendments suggested by the committee members. The Lok Sabha's list of business was revised to enable the Bill to be taken up for consideration in the House the day before the session ended. Despite the earlier objections of several senior politicians to the dual citizenship concept, the Bill was passed without much difficulty. While moving the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2003, in Parliament, Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani said that dual citizenship would help overseas Indians to contribute to India's development.
It is a sign of the growing influence of the Indian diaspora that the Bill was passed with the support of major political parties including the Congress, the AIADMK and the RJD. Though a few Opposition members questioned the need to pander to the overseas Indians, the majority opinion was for the Bill, which was passed after a short discussion. The Bill is likely to be notified after receiving the President's assent by January 9. It provides the facility of dual citizenship to persons of Indian origin (PIO) who are citizens of 16 specified countries. It will allow citizens of Indian origin of these 16 countries, which allow dual citizenship to their nationals, to acquire Indian passports. It will make it easier for first generation Indian migrants to these countries to adopt the new citizenship while retaining overseas Indian citizenship.
The United States allowed dual citizenship in 1967 when the US Supreme Court upheld the right of citizens to hold a foreign passport. Increasingly in the US, immigrants are maintaining their ties to their homelands, just as people born in America are reconnecting with their roots abroad. France and UK allow dual passports while Australia amended its Citizenship Act in early 2003 to allow Australians born in Australia to hold dual citizenship. Earlier, only Australians born overseas could hold dual citizenship. It is a growing trend worldwide with increasing number of immigrants; in recent years Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil and the Dominican Republic have allowed dual citizenship.
Ten Pravasi Sammans were awarded at the last conference, and these have become coveted symbols of recognition and honour in the homeland among the elite sections of the diaspora. Lobbying and canvassing for the awards have acquired a hectic pace as the conference draws near.
While India celebrates the achievements and contributions of the Indian diaspora, there is a strongly negative undercurrent to the overseas Indians' visits to India. It is the large number of young Indian women abandoned by their newly-wedded foreign-returned grooms when their husbands come home. It is a problem of increasing proportions, especially in Punjab where an NRI (Non-Resident Indian) spouse is highly prized by parents looking to arrange marriages for their children. Punjab's small towns abound with advertisements for finishing schools that groom young girls as NRI brides, but the number of abandoned wives and children too has increased with the years.
Such cases involve legal battles over divorce, maintenance and child custody with limited chances of redressal because of the distances and different legal systems involved. The Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, Mr JC Sharma, explained there were issues pertaining to recognition of marriages, ex-parte divorces obtained in the foreign country, and the enforcement of decrees passed by Indian courts. The Government had organised a seminar in early December involving legal experts and academics to discuss the issues of personal international law.
The Pravasi Diwas would have a session on matters relating to personal international law and how to make Indian laws compatible with international regulations to provide legal remedies to Indians citizens. India is not a signatory to the several Hague conventions that govern international private law on the custody and adoption of children.
Another area of focus at the conference will be the Gulf region. A major part of India's burgeoning foreign exchange reserves are from the inward remittances of the approximately 3.5 million Indians living in the Gulf countries. Indians in the Gulf are mainly expatriates on short-term contracts, many of whom feel their interests and concerns get lost in the wooing of the larger diaspora. The concessions offered to returning expatriates were drastically reduced in the last Budget. The Gulf region is facing the impact of growing unemployment among the local youth with stagnant oil revenues. Several countries have introduced policies that seek to substitute local youth for many categories of jobs that will reduce employment available to outsiders.
The diaspora has many segments, each with different needs and expectations. The chairman of the organising committee, Mr LM Singhvi, said the second Pravasi Diwas would be an occasion to renew bonds and to build on what was achieved in the last conference.