Standing committee may discuss possibility of inclusion of NRIs in Parliament

A suggestion to discuss the possibility of Non-resident Indians (NRIs) getting representation in Indian Parliament was floated by Congress lawmaker Deepender Singh Hooda during a meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on external affairs on Tuesday, people familiar with the matter said. While making the pitch for a discussion on the subject, Hooda cited the example of Italy, which has overseas members of Parliament.

A lawmaker aware of the development said the discussion started with the “definition” of NRIs as there is no uniformity in it, adding that Congress MP Hooda suggested one nationally accepted definition and made two significant suggestions.

“Hooda said there needs to be a certain number of seats in Parliament for NRIs who will be elected by NRIs themselves. The reason is that they contribute so much, like maintaining soft power, catering to Indian businesses abroad, sending remittances home and so on and so forth’,” the lawmaker said, requesting anonymity. “Hooda also suggested that the seats may be divided geography wise with one representative each such as from European Union, Americas, Asia Australia. He also espoused 3-4 seats in Parliament.”

Another lawmaker privvy to the meeting details said that a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP also supported the idea of giving NRIs a representation. “However, the BJP MP suggested no voting rights on any bills for NRIs in case this was pursued,” the second lawmaker said, also declining to be named..

“It was merely a suggestion given by a member MP to consider discussing the issue. We will discuss it in the next sitting,” a third lawmaker aware of the development told HT.

The meeting — titled “Indian Diaspora Overseas including NRIs, PIOs (Person of Indian Origin), OCIs (Overseas Citizen of India) and Migrant Workers: All Aspects of their Conditions and Welfare, including the Status of the Emigration Bill”, was headed by the chairperson of the standing committee and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.

The meeting also saw participation from the department of NRIs affairs, Punjab; People of Indian Origin (PIO) Chamber of Commerce and Industry, New Delhi; Centre for Diaspora Studies, Central University of Gujarat; and NORKA ROOTS, the Kerala government’s agency to provide support to non-resident Keralites.

“We had a detailed discussion with four organisations working with the diaspora — two on behalf of states Kerala and Punjab, one PIO organisation, and centre of diaspora studies in Gujarat. All spoke about their issues dealing with NRIs. It was a very good discussion. The MPs were very engaged,” Tharoor said after the meeting.

Skilling people, seeking jobs outside India based on the needs of various countries also came up for the discussion. Among other issues, the standing committee also discussed Emigration Bill, 2022, a person aware of the matter said.

According to an earlier standing committee’s observation, the Emigration Bill–which seeks to establish a robust, transparent and comprehensive emigration framework involving states, Union territories and other stakeholders–has been kept for discussion and vetting “for long”. The then committee had urged the ministry of external affairs to complete all the formalities at the earliest and introduce the bill in Parliament so as to “ensure the welfare/protection of Indian migrants and empower them for overseas employment”. The ministry had replied that the bill is in consultation with the ministry of labour and employment and is in advanced stages.