how many dual citizenship holders are there?
It is a wrong notion to say ‘dual citizen’ — there is no such thing; the Government of India has decided not to give dual citizenship. There is a danger in using such words casually. To provide dual citizenship we have to change the Constitution, amend the People’s Representation Act, since such dual citizenship gives political rights. As it stands, OICs and PIO can stay here as much as they like, they can come and go at will, but they cannot vote. When will it be possible to grant voting rights to Indians living abroad? We have introduced a bill in Parliament to grant voting rights to Indian passport holders. We are in process of amending the People’s Representation Act under which their names are enrolled. It has been approved by the standing committee and has been tabled before Parliament, but we could not pass it in this session. Once it has been passed, anyone working in say the Gulf or anywhere else can produce his passport and proof of where he works, and enrol himself in his o
