Even as the Government has decided to grant dual citizenship to People of Indian Origin (PIO) living abroad, it does not translate into many benefits. With the PIO not being granted the right to vote or contest elections, sources said dual citizenship would mean individuals holding two passports and not having to apply for visa on every visit to India. ‘‘At present, when an individual wants to apply for US citizenship, he has to surrender his Indian citizenship. He’s not allowed to hold both,’’ said a Home Ministry official.Also, the dual citizenship would be restricted to seven countries — US, UK, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand. By making it reciprocal and excluding the South Asian countries, the Government has restricted the list of countries. The Home Ministry would have the sole right to decide who will be granted dual citizenship. ‘‘National security is of prime concern, and only after a proper scrutiny will the Ministry decide who will get dual citizenship,’’ the official said.Sources said that a person carrying dual citizenship will basically have the same rights as the PIO card-holder. The Government had started the PIO card scheme in March 1999, which entitled the holder to certain privileges. ‘‘The Government had been careful even while granting PIO cards. In five years, only 1,200 cards were issued,’’ said an official. Also, the scheme was not popular because of the prohibitive fee charged — US $ 1,000 per person. It entitled the holder to visit India without a visa for the next 20 years and stay on in the country for a period of 180 days without reporting to police. “But since the price tag was so high, the scheme became restricted to only the affluent,”.the official added.With dual citizenship, some of these problems would be eliminated. The dual citizenship status would allow individuals to hold Indian companies. They would be allowed to undertake employment in India without any separate permission, and they would be given facilities under housing schemes of LIC, state governments and other government agencies. Also, facilities will be available to them for getting their children admitted to educational institutions in India including medical colleges. However, they would not be allowed acquire agricultural/plantation land.
