Dear Bosco, Living in the USA, sometimes one tends to miss out on actual news happening in India. Hence, I have been only partially informed about NRI voting rights. I inadvertently assumed the government was revisiting the old idea of giving PIOs (generically refered to as NRIs) voting rights. Upon further research I have discovered this:
Nasci was right when he stated that the primary beneficiary of NRI voting rights was to be the Gulf Indians. To me talking about NRI voting rights was a bit confusing. My parents having been NRIs for 30 odd years fully exercise their right to vote now that they have returned to India. Their right to vote was never relinquished it had just relapsed. So, what we are talking about is keeping the NRI active on the electoral roles even though he is not in India and hence outside his constituency. I am still in the dark as to whether the said NRI will have to return to India to vote or whether polling booths will be set up in his country of residence. Knowing the Gulf states as well as I do, I know any elections of any sort, even if unrelated to their own politics, will not be welcome. Now, the question is entirely a different one. Should the Gulf NRI be more actively involved in the politics of his country? Well, why not. First of all he faithfully remits money back home. Secondly most of them will return home after they retire. And thirdly due to geographical proximity, he is well informed of the politics back home. The logistics of the whole affair will be burdensome but no doubt political parties see NRIs as votebanks to be wooed and any burden is worth it, if it means a vote at the ballot box. Thank you everyone for clarifying the subject matter, with much patience and perseverance :)) Elisabeth -------------------------------- --- Bosco D'Mello <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Sat Apr 29 21:27:24 PDT 2006, Elisabeth Carvalho > wrote: > > > Secondly I don't know if anyone read my original > post > > but I stated very clearly that the term NRIs has > lost > > its original and true meaning and has been loosely > > interpreted to mean every Indian or Person of > Indian > > Origin, who now resides outside of India. > > RESPONSE: Elisabeth, we did read your original post > of April 26/06. And what I > believe some of us are trying to convey is that the > term NRI is not and should > not be a loosely interpreted term for the purpose of > elections. An NRI is an > Indian citizen! > > You probably missed what the Goanet News Bytes of > April 25/06 clearly stated - > what the government is proposing to achieve by > tabling the The Representation > of the People (Amendment) Bill 2006. > > > The purpose of me initiating this debate was not > to discuss the > > current state of who is or is not eligible to > vote, but may be > > eligible to vote in the future. > > RESPONSE: It's quite likely you had the answers you > seeked in your first post > when you stated "NRIs, PIOs, expats are an apathetic > lot". The same applies to > NRI Goans. The apathy will carryover into the voting > patterns - They will not > vote!! Just like Goans/Indians back home who don't > exactly embrace the ballot > box come election time. And if they do vote, its for > the same people. I hope > people like Floriano and Goa Suraj meet better > success at the next hustings. > > Best - Bosco > > _____________________________________________ > Do not post admin requests to the list. > Goanet mailing list ([email protected]) > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _____________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. Goanet mailing list ([email protected])
