Dubai: Indian Planning Minister Rajiv Shukla held out assurances that the Government of India’s decision to offer UAE nationals a visa on arrival in India was on track and the project was making its way – as per formality – through the relevant government departments.
Speaking to Gulf News at the end of another hectic winter session in parliament on Tuesday, during which the controversial Lokpal Bill was passed, Shukla said, ‘’The home ministry is following due process and applying due diligence on the matter. The file goes through the various government ministries for their input and this process is currently being followed.’’
According to Shukla, “Processes should be cleared by early next year and I don’t see any scope for delay.’’
He, however, shied away from putting a specific time frame on the exercise, preferring to state that “all processes will be expedited”.
In October, Shukla, who is spearheading the visa reforms project, had announced that the visa on arrival facility would be offered not just to UAE nationals, who travel to India in thousands, but also to 40 other nationalities.
“We want the visa application procedures to be smoothened out,’’ he reiterated.
India prepares to go to the polls next year in what is seen as the biggest ever election exercise. Elections are expected to be held around April-May 2014 and the current government would have to clear the visa reforms file before that.
The decision to introduce the reforms, according to Shukla, would not go through parliament procedures, but would be a “simple, normal, administrative outcome by the government’s home ministry after taking into account issues like infrastructure and logistics.”
Buffeted by storms generated by a declining economy and rapidly falling tourism figures, which are roughly a third when compared to countries like Thailand and Malaysia for instance, the Indian government has initiated the visa reforms process for select countries in the hope of earning valuable tourism revenues.
