Students lead in foreigner rush

The city is getting more prominent on the medical tourism map,as there has been an increase in people coming in for treatment from other nations. Of late,there has been an estimated 500-1,200 visitors every day,police confirm.

The numbers are estimated from the C Form required to be filled in by hotel and house owners having any foreign guests on their premises. As per the Centre’s Foreigners (Report to Police) order of 1971 under the Foreigners Act,1946,owners of houses or hotels should report to the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) the arrival or presence of any foreigner on his or her premises within 24 hours and fill the C Form,a copy of which is to be given to the local police and another to the FRO. One copy is retained by the house or hotel owner.

An official at the C Form centre said,“On any given day,we get between 500 and 1200 C forms. Of these about 60 to 80 percent are of students,mostly from Western Asian,African or South East Asian countries. Three to four percent are here for research.”

Makarand Ranade,deputy commissioner of police (special branch),said,“There has been a steady rise in foreigners visiting the city,the majority of them students. Next are foreigners travelling on business-employment visa. In Mumbai it’s the other way round,businesspersons far outnumber students from outside the country. With expansion of industries in and around Pune,especially regions like Chakan and Ranjangaon,we have a lot of Form Cs from business class and professionals too.”

It has been observed that foreigners on business-employment visas constitute 10 per cent of the C form entries. “They mostly stay in hotels in Vimannagar,Koregaon Park,Camp and Bundgarden. While the student population is concentrated in suburbs like Sangvi,Bavdhan,Kondhwa,Koregaon Park,Aundh-Pashan,Mundhwa. Students mainly arrive between August and December. In these months,their numbers go up to 1,000-1,200 per day. The number again rises in April and May,when it is about 600 to 700 per day,” said an officer.

Sham Ingale,a security and administration officer with a hotel in Hinjewadi,said,“The number of people coming for business purposes is high between October and March. If there are any Pakistani or Bangladeshi nationals,we send C Forms within an hour.”

Ranade said,“The number of people coming on medical visas from African and Western Asian countries is rising.” There are sporadic cases of people travelling to Pune on journalist visas and visas for persons of Indian origin and X visas for those who have married an Indian.