Indian expats in Middle East worried about passport reform

News Network
January 18, 2018

The Indian government’s decision to do away with the address page in the Indian passport has received mixed reaction from social workers and expatriates in the Middle Eastern countries.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) of government of India recently announced its decision to do away with the last page of the passport and other travel. The last page contains information such the name of parents, spouse, address, Emigration Check Required (ECR) and old passport number with date and place of issue of the holder of the passport.

Late last year, the Indian government also announced that NRIs are not eligible to apply for Aadhar - India's biometric identity card - nor are they required to link their Aadhar details to PAN cards or register it with their SIM cards. The decision to do-away with the address page on the passport raises questions as to what NRIs must do to avail services such as apply for SIM cards or open bank accounts in India.

Indian missions in the United Arab Emirates have stated that they are yet to receive official instruction from the Ministry in New Delhi before new passports can be issued. Pavan K. Rai, first secretary, consular affairs at the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, said: "We are yet to receive official instructions from New Delhi with this regard, and cannot comment on the decision's effects on NRI's in UAE. Once we get clear guidelines from the ministry, we can clarify processes for residents."

Orange is the new blue?

Furthermore, the proposal to issue 'an orange coloured' passport for Emigration Check Required (ECR) categories of people was met with ire, as social workers stated that it is discriminatory to segregate citizens who have not passed Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) examinations.

The 'ECR' stamp in the current passport ensures the safety of uneducated and unskilled Indian workers, from the deprived socio-economic conditions, against prevailing legal conditions in foreign countries.

KV Shamsudheen, founder and chairman of Pravasi Bandhu Welfare Trust, has written a letter to the Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj requesting her to retract this decision as it would cause severe difficulty for NRI's.

He said: "It is not fair to segregate citizens who in the ECR category with and orange passport. The government is claiming the orange passport will save workers from exploitation. But that is not the case, they will be subject to discrimination, especially at immigration lines at international airports."

Social worker Girish Pant said that the decision has its pros and cons. "If workers are easily identified with the different coloured passport, they can avail services that would protect them against unscrupulous agents and job frauds. However, removal of the address could indeed cause increased paper work for NRIs, especially when it comes to getting their paperwork attested by various authorities."

Many countries demand parents' information for resident and visit visa purposes, said Shamsudheen, adding, "If the new passport is implemented, NRIs have to get a certificate showing parents' names' (birth certificate) from their home cities, that requires attestation by the Indian ministry of foreign affairs, embassies of the home country, and attestation by respective country's foreign ministry. It will be very cumbersome to NRIs. Applying for visas to foreign countries will be a technical nightmare," he said.

Another social worker in Dubai Kusum Dutta said: "When Aadhar was implemented, my family and I got it made. I feel proud to have an Aadhar with me, because it gives me a sense of identity. Though I am very happy that the government has taken such a bold step, I am a bit unsure if we're equipped electronically to handle this shift given our population. Both in India and abroad."

Comments

Muhammed Ali Uchil
 - 
Monday, 22 Jan 2018

Now, passport holders with ECR status would be issued a passport with orange color passport jacket

Treating India's migrant workers like second class citizens is completely unacceptable. This action demonstrates govt.'s discriminatory mindset. However well-intentioned the move to create different coloured passports for different kinds of travellers, it is wrong and must be reconsidered. Already officials treat citizens differently based on their class...different passport colors will worsen it.
While Indian passports have a blue cover, diplomatic and official passports have white and red jackets, respectively. Currently, barring diplomatic and official passports, all Indian passports have blue cover.So,let it be like that!

abbu
 - 
Sunday, 21 Jan 2018

AT THE END OF THE DAY MODI GOVT. SHOULD SHOW THE WORK.. THTS THE REASON HE IS DOING ALL THESE THINGS... THIS IS NOT A PRIMARY REQUIREMENT TO CHANGE THE PASSPORT COLOURS. THERE ARE SOO SOO MANY THINGS TO BE DONE WHICH MODI GOVT. PROMISED AND STILL IN PAGES....... WAKE UP GUYS WAKE UP... IF NOT NOW THEN WE ARE THE ONE WHO IS SUFFREING FROM THIS AND NOT THE MP'S OR MLA'S OR MINISTERS

Parson
 - 
Friday, 19 Jan 2018

Y this degradation for un-educated workers? Already big blunder is been created by MODI Govt by doing De-Monitization. All the black money was made white. No Black money came into govt's Hand. The poeple who will suffer wil be common man. PM, please stop this blunders what are u planing to create. Which fool gives you these idea, he shud be killed. Wasting Tax payers money for silly nonsense. Wake up Guys......Let BLUE b the BLUE.......

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coastaldigest.com news network
April 19,2020

Mangaluru, Apr 19: The covid-19 being spread by the novel coronavirus has claimed a life in the coastal district of Dakshina Kannada.  

The victim, a 50-year-old woman from Bantwal taluk, breathed her last at Wenlock Hospital today morning. 

She was rushed to a private hospital yesterday after she developed breathing problems. Then she was shifted to Wenlock Hospital's block for suspected coronavirus patients, and placed in the intensive care unit (ICU).

Her throat swab was collected the same day and sent for testing for coronavirus. However, today morning her condition worsened and she passed away.

The report was received on later on Sunday afternoon, which confirmed that she had contracted coronavirus.

The woman's family members including her husband, son and mother-in-law have been placed under quarantine. It is learnt that her mother-in-law's condition is serious and she has been admitted to the ICU.

The throat swabs of all the three family members have been sent for coronavirus test. According to sources, the woman's son had come from Dubai recently.

Meanwhile, a 30-year-old woman from Uppinangady, who is undergoing treatment in a hospital, today tested positive for the covid-19.

With the confirmation of two new cases, the total number of reported covid-19 cases in Dakshina Kannada reached 15. Out of which only two case are currently active and 12 have been discharged. Another one passed away.

Comments

Mohith R
 - 
Monday, 20 Apr 2020

I am her son and I returned from Dubai on FEBRUARY 13, not March 16. What fake source are you referring to?

 

 

 

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News Network
February 26,2020

Bengaluru, Feb 26: Karnataka Police and intelligence have been asked to be on alert in the wake of communal violence in Delhi and take preemptive measures, state Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai said here on Wednesday.

"We have been keeping a close watch on the developments after the Delhi incident. I have instructed my officers to be on alert and take precautionary actions rather than actions after the incidents," Bommai told media.

"The day before yesterday we had a high-level meeting...we are having a close watch," he added.

Violence erupted in Delhi on Sunday evening after groups protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and those supporting it indulged in stone pelting at each other.

The confrontation soon turned communal and the violence spread to other areas of northeast Delhi including Chand Bagh, Mustafabad, Brijpuri, Shiv Vihar and Noor Ilahi on Monday and Tuesday in which at least 20 persons, including a police head constable, have died and over 200 have been injured.

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News Network
April 4,2020

Bengaluru, Apr 4: As calamity struck the nation in the form of coronavirus, many philanthropists have generously opened their wallets to sustain the urban poor, especially the migrant labourers in the city and elsewhere in Karnataka.

These individuals either directly or through organisations opened up their kitchens to ensure that no one goes to bed hungry in this distressing time.

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, the nodal agency to feed urban poor, responded positively to requests by these organisations and individuals to supply food to the needy on their behalf.

"We had been serving food through our Indira canteens, which we continue to do even now. However, many philanthropists and corporates have come forward to feed the needy," the BBMP joint commissioner Sarfaraz Khan told reporters.

According to BBMP, Indira canteens used to provide two lakh meals a day on normal occasions.

However, since the lockdown has been clamped, the number swelled by almost 50 per cent.

"On Thursday alone, we served 2.85 lakh food, which comprises breakfast, lunch and breakfast," a Palike officer said.

The major aid came from Jain International Trade Organisation (JITO) and Azim Premji Foundation.

While JITO is feeding around 22,000 people, Azim Premji Foundation is taking care of 20,000 people.

Sajjanraj Mehta, an office bearer of JITO, told reporters that his organisation has been providing packaged cooked food since March 27.

"We got in touch with Bengaluru Mayor M Gautham Kumar, Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao and the BBMP commissioner B H Anil Kumar. According to their list, 27,000 food packets were required daily," Mehta told.

The JITO members have arranged vehicles of their respective businesses to transport food packets to different locations as part of the campaign named as 'COVID-19 manav seva'.

The organisation has also decided to utilise the kitchen of Princess Golf, a marriage hall on Palace Grounds here to prepare food.

Palike officials said on Thursday alone JITO supplied 53,000 meals.

"We asked them to cover migrant labourers in those areas where Indira Canteen could not reach. We mapped the cluster and provided them info. Now, they are distributing it there," they said.

Another organisation engaged in charitable work is ISKCON Bengaluru.

Ever since the lockdown, it has been working in various parts of India providing food to various people.

"We are providing materials such as rice, wheat flour, Daal, oil, vegetables with long shelf life, salt, sugar and spices. Each packet can sustain for at least 21 days," Madhu Pandit Dasa, president of ISKCON Bengaluru.

The organisation has set a target to cover at least two lakh people but so far it has reached out to 30,000 people including 25,000 in Bengaluru alone.

"We are feeding about 50,000 people in Delhi, with the Telangana government we are feeding about 40,000 people in Hyderabad, about 10,000 people in Ahmedabad in association with the Gujarat government," Dasa told.

According to BBMP, other organisations providing food to the needy are KMFY, TVS Group, Vimal Bhandari, Radisson Blue Atria Hotel, Hitech Ecowood, Mohammed Shajid, Prestige Group.

Wipro Ltd also pitched in to feed the poor by opening up its industrial kitchen infrastructure.

In a statement, Global Head- Operations of the company Hariprasad Hegde said the humanitarian crisis we are faced with as part of the Covid-19 crisis has multiple dimensions to it, of which the need to deliver cooked meals to the stranded migrant workers and other vulnerable communities is probably the most critical and immediate one.

Recognising this, Wipro has decided to use the industrial kitchen infrastructure in our facilities to provide cooked meals, he said.

This kicked off on April 2 with the delivery of 43,000 meals from our Bangalore facility in Kodathi to the government.

"We have made use of our own procurement logistics to source the food provisions. This is a collaborative process, with the government taking responsibility for the logistics of last mile delivery to the communities that need it the most,” he said.

In the case of Bangalore, the Karnataka government has come forward to provide this kind of complementary delivery support. We are reaching out to other state governments and local administrations for similar efforts." he said.

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