NRIs likely to vote in 2019 polls, Swaraj says

Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj assured that the NRI Voting Bill will be tabled in Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Indian parliament in February, said an Indian People’s Forum (IPF) delegation who met her in Abu Dhabi this week.

The bill to extend the ‘proxy voting’ facility to overseas Indians, on the lines of service voters, was passed by the Lok Sabha in August.

According to a press release issued by IPF, an overseas socio-cultural wing of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, Swaraj has promised to table the bill in Rajya Sabha 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,” said Bupendra Kumar, UAE president of IPF.

Ramesh Mannath, IPF president in Dubai, said the minister also promised to sort out the equivalency certificate crisis faced by around 800 Indian teachers who studied in private colleges in Kerala, who currently risk losing their jobs here.

“Health insurance for NRIs, education seat reservation for NRI students, legal aid for stranded Indians etc were also discussed,” IPF said.