NRIs seek voting rights

It is not just the attraction of doing business in their hometown that has attracted the 1,500-strong NRI community to the third Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Mumbai.

"We want to help India come up to the standards that exist in the country where we come from," said John Nana Bhula from New Zealand.

Many NRIs feel that by being granted voting rights they would be better placed to ensure accountability and even be empowered to rule India better.

When the Indian government is appealing for investments from the overseas Indian community, it is essential to grant NRIs voting rights.

This is how the NRI community can hold the government accountable, said Shashi Tharoor, an eminent writer and under secretary general for communications and public information, UN.

Reiterating the long-awaited demand of NRIs seeking voting rights, Paul Nischal, chief executive of the UK-based NRI Club International told Business Standard, "We want the right to vote. Who knows I may become prime minister one day."

Many NRIs tend to feel government policies could improve further. At the same time, the Indian community in the US marveled at the way a Sikh prime minister (Manmohan Singh) was sworn in by a Muslim president (A P J Abdul Kalam) while a Roman Catholic leader (Sonia Gandhi) looked on.

Bhula, with a background in civil and mechanical engineering, is in the country looking at means by which he can help improve road transport here. "I will speak to the ministry of transport on running a teaching programme for mechanics," he said.

"The youth in India needs guidance as it is forgetting Indian heritage and becoming more westernised," said a surgeon, Yousuf U Syed from the US. "We are trying to come home and these people are trying to go away," he added.

He was speaking of the scores of young Indians going overseas for higher studies and viewing better opportunities there, choosing not to return.

"A lot of health problems can be improved through educational promotion and self empowerment," said Krishna R S Gujavarty, the chief of psychiatry at Good Samaritan Medical Centre in New York.

Meanwhile, Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy has urged the Centre to ensure that the names of all Indian passport holders in the Gulf region be included in the voters' list.

"Being Indian nationals, these NRIs should be allowed to exercise their franchise. The NRIs in the Gulf region contributed significantly to the economy of Kerala and there was a pressing need to recognise their contribution," Chandy said.

He also expressed concern that although Air-India had been given permission to operate a budget airline from March 2005, this would not cover the entire Gulf region and would not be enough.

Jagdish Tytler, minister for overseas Indian affairs, said the government is planning to set up a corporate law office in Dubai to take care of the legal needs of Indians.