The Hindu : Govt. fails to keep its promise to PIOs

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 25, 2003

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National

Govt. fails to keep its promise to PIOs

By Amit Baruah

NEW DELHI April 24. It is a promise that the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, has failed to keep. To thunderous cheers, Mr. Vajpayee had announced at the January 9 Pravasi Bharatiya Divas that a Bill to confer dual citizenship on PIOs would be introduced during the budget session of Parliament. The budget session is drawing to an end, but there is no sign of the Bill. It was to provide, for the first time ever, dual citizenship for PIOs in select countries.

In his January 9 speech, Mr. Vajpayee had said: "... my Government has decided to.... permit dual citizenship for People of Indian Origin living in certain countries. We are now working on the administrative regulations and procedures governing dual citizenship. We will introduce the necessary legislation during the budget session of Parliament."

According to sources, a draft Bill is yet to reach the desk of the Law Minister, Arun Jaitley. The sources said the law would be a complicated one, adding that there were some difficulties and serious concerns relating to security and other issues.

Clearly, the promise was premature and the Government has failed to keep to its commitment — a bad signal to the PIO community living in the West — yet another indication that the speed of decision-making in India leaves much to be desired. In any case, there has been some criticism that the PIOs to be offered "dual citizenship" were from the "dollar and pound countries" and would not be available to PIOs living in developing countries.

The indications in January were that PIOs living in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Holland, Portugal and some Nordic countries may avail of the dual citizenship facility.

There has been considerable debate whether or not conferring dual citizenship will require a mere amendment to the Citizenship Act or an amendment to the Constitution itself.

At present, a person can acquire Indian citizenship, as per Article 5 of the Constitution, by birth; or either of whose parents were born in the territory of India or has been ordinarily resident in the territory of India for not less than five years.

However, Article 9 says: "No person shall be a citizen of India by virtue of Article 5.... if he has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of any foreign state." Article 10 confers the power on Parliament to make any provision relating to citizenship.

As Government sources admit, any law to confer dual citizenship would be a complicated one. And, as the Government studies the issue further, it appears that the depth of complication is becoming clear. The BJP itself has been intensely wooing the PIO/NRI community and the promise of "dual citizenship" had been a major plank in garnering support and influence overseas.

The sources said the Government remained committed to providing dual citizenship and a Bill would be introduced "at the beginning" of the next session of Parliament.

There had been delays in compiling information and inputs were still being collected, they claimed. According to the sources, a Cabinet note on the subject was "ready" and two rounds of inter-Ministerial consultation had already taken place.

Be that as it may, the Government has missed its own deadline as the budget session of Parliament winds down.

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