Queency Jain
Home Ministry order dated March 4 asking professionals like journalists, engineers and researchers to notify them about their activities in India have left them stumble.
While a director rank official, A.Radharani died due to COVID-19 and various other officials in Ministry’s foreigners division tested positive, there was a delay in the operation of the portal which was to function for the purpose.
The officials asked the OCI’s to intimate the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) through email until the portal gets activated.
President of Association of Resident OCI and Families, Rajanna Sreedhara, said “we are planning to challenge the Ministry’s notification in the Supreme Court as it is discriminatory”
On March 4, the Ministry issued a notification stating that OCI cardholders can claim only NRI quota seats in educational institutions and can only pursue the profession of doctor, advocate, dentist, nurses and pharmacist, architect and charted accountants, while all other professions would require special permission.
OCI’s are persons of Indian origin but hold passports of other country. Since India does not allow with dual citizenship, it does provide certain benefits under Section7(b) of the Citizenship Act’1955. Till now, 37.72 lakh OCI cards have been issued.
The notification said that OCI’s will be required to obtain a special permission from the competent authority or the FRRO or Indian mission “to undertake research, missionary or Tabligh or mountaineering or journalistic activities or internship in any foreign diplomatic missions”
An academic from U.S who lives in India and writes coloumn in newspapers sometimes was mailed on his own volition to the FRRO to get special permit but was asked to provide with no of columns he has written with remuneration he received. The academic said, “I provided all the details asked for, have not heard from them since, they say the Home Ministry will take a call. In absence of any clear instructions I cannot continue writing, it is my passion.”
The academic further stated, that the notification did not mention anything about IT professionals and had also put up an unnecessary burden on scientific, pharmaceutical, medical, and other research fields by asking them to take permission to conduct research.
Dr. Shreedhara while reacting to the notification said that evenif an OCI student will secure high rank in exams like NEET, he will not be able to secure his seat since many institutions do not offer NRI seats. Also, the high fees will not be affordable by many OCI students since they not only study but work simultaneously here in India and by this they will be deprived of domicile status in India as well as their own country.
An OCI and Bengaluru resident, Anjana Hulse told that her son was not able to get admission in Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru even after scoring 2 Rank in Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana examinations. Further she stated, “IISc does not have NRI seats and earlier it was admitting students on merit. Despite securing a high rank, my son cannot study there since he is an OCI. It is unfortunate that India does not recognise talent; we spent decades in foreign countries but came back, is this how our children will be treated.”
While Dr. Sreedhara petitioned the Ministry, the notification had only left them in confusion as, “The notification equates India-domiciled OCIs with a foreigner…A foreigner can only have a Portfolio Investment Scheme investment account which is a special category of investment account approved and monitored by the Reserve Bank of India with several restrictions. It has to be funded by foreign currency remittance only. An India-domiciled OCI living and working in India may not have any foreign currency funding option at all and hence may not be able to hold an investment account.”