Joginder Singh Toor

UNDER the existing People’s Representation Act, an NRI's name gets deleted from the voters' list if he/she stays outside the country for more than six months at a stretch. The proposed amendments will allow an Indian citizen residing abroad to enroll in voter's list and exercise the franchise even if he or she remained away from place of residence in India for more than six months owing to their employment, education or otherwise. However, the person will be able to exercise the franchise only if he or she is present in the constituency on the polling day.

But those who have acquired citizenship abroad would not have the voting rights. They have some other rights under several laws.

One question that still nags are do NRI’s understand the politics when they are either busy working or studying. They ha shall have to go an extra mile to understand and participate in the political life of the country.

In January the prime minister had announced I this right to be made available soon. Although the announcement was mainly addressed to the expatriate community in the Gulf, a cross-section of NRIs in the US and Canada said voting rights would bring them closer to their motherland and help them get directly involved in its decision-making process.

While quite a few were skeptical of the dual citizenship, the majority argued it was a graduation from their present status, wherein they were expected to just send money home without any representation or role in decision-making. Now they shall have a sense of participation.

Vishwas More retired chief engineer of Stanford and Berkeley universities, feels voting rights for NRIs would have far-reaching consequences for India. ‘‘The impact of overseas voting will be fractional compared to that in India. But I am sure that NRIs will vote 100 per cent as they are educated and understand political processes,’’ he argues. Investment consultant Arun Bharath said: ‘‘More political participation from NRIs will facilitate better exchange of ideas which will bind them closer to their motherland.

Already many Indians settled in Canada or America have applied for dual citizenship.

‘‘It’s great as you get a chance to influence political and economic reform in India,’’ said equity analyst Pranav Rawal in Irvin, California. Arguing that NRIs were part of the ‘‘greater India’’ which transcends the political boundary of India, Aryya Gangopadhyay, Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director, Dept. of Information System, University of Maryland Baltimore County, said: ‘‘Inclusion of NRIs’ views and choices in the political process will benefit the country.’’

A longstanding demand for voting rights in India by millions of NRIs may finally see the light of the day with a Group of Ministers (GoM) clearing a draft Bill on the issue, paving way for its consideration by the Union Cabinet. Drafted almost fours years back by the Overseas Affairs Ministry, the Representation of People's (Amendment) Bill was cleared by a Group of Ministers headed by Defence Minister AK Antony and is all set to be cleared by the Union Cabinet.

There are millions of Indians who either go for work or study across the globe. They could be temporarily located in Dubai or any other West Asian country, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore of North America and Europe. This would make them participate in the democratic process which, however is under critical strain. Hopefully they could participate in these elections too.

"The GoM headed by the Defence Minister cleared the Bill. Now, we are all set to present it before the Cabinet and then it will be introduced in the Parliament," Overseas Indian Affairs Minister, Vayalar Ravi, said. The GoM clearance came months after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, while addressing the Pravasi Bhartiya Divas earlier this year here, had said he recognised the "legitimate desire" of Indians living abroad to exercise their franchise and to have a say in the governance of India.

The move to allow the NRI participation in the democratic process will further boost the two-way engagement and help them actively participate in India's growth story, Ravi said. The government had moved the Bill in the Rajya Sabha in 2006 proposing amendments to the Representation of People's Act to make provision for voting rights to NRIs. The Bill was then sent to a Parliamentary Standing Committee and later it was referred to the GoM. The GoM that cleared the Bill included Ravi, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal and Law Minister M Veerappa Moily.

[The writer is a senior advocate based in Chandigarh 91-9815133530. jogindersingh_toor@yahoo.com]

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