The EC and the ministries of external affairs and overseas Indian affairs have held two rounds of talks but there is no consensus yet on finalising the modalities for giving NRIs (non-resident Indians) voting rights. Consequently, millions of NRIs may have to wait a little longer to see their names in electoral rolls. Union overseas Indian affairs minister Vayalar Ravi and external affairs minister S.M. Krishna can be expected to resume discussions soon to resolve the issue.
In the Monsoon Session Parliament had passed the Representation of People (Amendment) Bill, 2010 to allow NRIs to vote in Indian elections and subsequently government had issued a gazette notification in this regard. According to the amendment, an NRI will be able to exercise the franchise only if he or she is present in the constituency on the polling day. As per the existing rules, an NRI’s name gets deleted from the voters list if he or she stays outside the country for more than six months at a stretch. The new law will allow an Indian citizen residing abroad to enrol in voter’s list and exercise their franchise even if they have remained away from their place of residence in India for more than six months.
“The EC had made some suggestions for entry of NRIs in electoral rolls which we felt had some practical difficulties. We suggested to them that the procedure should be simple and practical,” Mr Ravi told a press conference which was called to announce the 2011 Pravasi Bharatiya Divas. Apparently, the EC had suggested that Indian missions abroad should thoroughly examine credentials of an applicant before his or her name is included in electoral rolls but the ministry of external affairs opposed the idea saying it would be difficult for the embassies to take that much of workload.
Mr Ravi said NRIs “who have not acquired citizenship of any other country and are living abroad owing to employment, education or otherwise, are eligible to register their names in the electoral rolls” in the place mentioned in their passport.
Voting rights has been a longstanding demand of an estimated 11 million NRIs across the world.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said that Indian passport holders living abroad could get voting rights by the time of next Lok Sabha elections in 2014, but the wait may be long.