Non resident Indians (NRI) can participate in election processes here. They will first have to get registered here.

Announcing this during the inaugural function of the 10th Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas at Jaipur, the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh said, “Pursuant to the law that was enacted to enable non-resident Indians to vote in our national elections, the Government has issued notifications for registration of overseas Indians under the Representation of People Act, 1950. “ This constitutes the first major step to enable Indians resident abroad to participate in our election processes, he added.

He said in the last session of our Parliament the Government introduced a Bill intended to merge and streamline the People of Indian Origin and Overseas Citizen of India schemes by amending the Citizenship Act. This will rectify some of the anomalies in the schemes and provide for an Overseas Indian Card which will be given to foreign spouses of such card holders as well.

Later delivering the key note address the Finance Minister Mr Pranab Mukherjee asked the Indian Diaspora to invest more and more in the country. “We have not yet reaped the full benefits of India’s great diaspora. The most obvious area remains that of investment and entrepreneurship,” he said.

Citing example of China, he said that there a large chunk of foreign direct investment has come from overseas Chinese. He was aware that there have been large ticket investments by non-resident Indian entrepreneurs. But he believed that it was far less than the potential and perhaps too concentrated on the formal sector. He opines that the Government must pursue an alternative model, one that is more balanced and holistic in a socio-economic sense.

>Shishir.s@thehindu.co.in

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