State welcomes voting rights for NRIs

Punjab Education Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) Political Affairs Committee Member Sewa Singh Sekhwan today welcomed the Central notification granting voting rights to non-resident Indians (NRIs) and described it as a historic decision aimed at involving millions of NRIs in Indian politics.

Sekhwan said more than 11 million Indians were living outside the country for employment,education and other reasons without acquiring the citizenship of their adoptive countries.

With this new notification,he said,they would become eligible to register their names in the electoral rolls of their hometowns.

The minister said this decision would have a greater impact in Punjab,as a very large number of Punjabis have settled abroad. “The Punjab government had taken up this issue with the Union government several times,” he said in a statement issued here.