NRIs likely to vote in 2019 election: India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj
Indian minister tells expats proxy voting bill will be tabled in parliament in February
Dubai: India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, has assured that the NRI Voting Bill will be tabled in Rajyasabha, the upper house of Indian parliament, in February, said a delegation of Indian People’s Forum who met her in Abu Dhabi this week.
The bill to extend the facility of ‘proxy voting’ to overseas Indians, on the lines of service voters, was passed by the Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament in August.
According to a press release issued by Indian People’s Forum (IPF), an overseas socio-cultural wing of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, Swaraj has promised to table the bill in Rajyasabha in February so that it can be passed into a law to enable Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) to cast their votes in the 2019 general elections.
“This is going to be a historical change in Indian democracy. The current Indian government is showing its gratitude to the Indian passport holders around the world,” said Bupendra Kumar, UAE president of IPF.
Ramesh Mannath, IPF president in Dubai, stated that the minister also promised to sort out the equivalency certificate crisis faced by around 800 Indian teachers who studied in private colleges in Kerala and currently face a threat to their jobs here.
“Health and medical insurance for NRIs, seat reservation for NRI students for higher education, legal aid for stranded Indians etc were also discussed and the minister offered a kind consideration on all these matters,” the statement added.