Citizen Amendment Bill tabled in Lok Sabha

The government on Tuesday finally introduced in the Lok Sabha the bill to merge the Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) and Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) scheme that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced at his public meetings in the United States and Australia.

The government on Tuesday finally introduced in the Lok Sabha the bill to merge the Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) and Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) scheme that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced at his public meetings in the United States and Australia.

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Modi had outlined the merger plan at his Madison Square Garden meeting in the United States in September, and later set early January as the deadline in his speech to Indian community in Sydney.

“The PIO and OCI status will be merged ahead of the Pravasi Bhartiya Divas to be held from January 7 in Ahmedabad,” the PM had declared in his Sydney address.

It is a deadline the Modi will have to miss due to the stand-off with the Opposition in Parliament.

The previous Manmohan Singh-led government had drafted the Citizenship Amendment Bill to address grievances of the non-resident Indians. But the UPA government could not set aside time for its passage in Parliament.

The home ministry had started work afresh on the bill after Modi’s Madison Square meeting.