Idea of ‘Akhand Bharat’ in my soul; all my works are reflection of the country: S L Bhyrappa

Kochi, Feb 29: The Kerala Non-Resident Indians' Commission on Friday passed a resolution to request the Centre and Election Commission (EC) to make appropriate amendments in the Representation of Peoples Act, 1951, to ensure voting rights to the non-resident Indians working abroad. According to People’s Representation Act, 1951, None-Resident Indians (NRIs) can vote by proxy.

The Commission is a statutory body constituted for the welfare of Non-Resident Keralites working outside India.

The Centre had introduced a bill for this purpose which was passed by the Lok Sabha in 2018, but the same has since lapsed.

Therefore, the Kerala NRI Commission decided to request the Centre to consider introducing the bill in the next session of Parliament considering the interest of the NRI community at large.

The resolution was moved by commission member and NRI entrepreneur Shamsheer Vayalil, who is also a petitioner in the writ petition, filed regarding this in the Supreme Court.

"The central government may consider introducing the bill in the next session of the Parliament session considering the interest of the NRI community at large," read the resolution which will now be sent to the Ministry of Law and the Election Commission (EC).

Commission chairman Justice PD Rajan said the right to vote for NRIs is a genuine demand.

"This is the time that we step up pressure on the agencies concerned to implement this. Voting from the workplace would be a different experience for them. It would be a decisive step," he said.

This fresh development comes at a time when a petition filed in the Supreme Court on the same topic last week came before a bench headed by Justice Deepak Gupta, which considered the case and said it will be heard in April.

"We are expecting a favourable decision from the Supreme Court. We would also approach the NRI commission in other states and request them to raise the same demand," said Vayalil.

If implemented, millions of NRIs around the world would be able to exercise their franchise in the electoral processes of the nation. According to the estimate of the Ministry of External Affairs, there are about 3.10 crore NRIs.

Mangalore, Jan 21: Former city councillor and social activists Naveenchandra and social activist Vidya Dinker have been invited to participate in two-day National Level Consultation on Urban Governance which will take place on January 22 and 23 at Juniper Hall, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.

Urban governance stakeholders of 20 states and one union territory will be participating in this national level consultative seminar. The participants will include elected representatives, NGO representatives and urban planning experts. The seminar is being organised by Mumbai based Prajna Foundation, which has undertaken an in-depth study of the governance of the 20 states and one union territories.

Having served several terms as a corporator of Mangaluru City Corporation, Naveenchandra is knowledgeable in matters relating to urban governance. He is very popular in his constituency. Vidya Dinker is a well known city based social activist. She is the Coordinator, Citizens Forum for Mangalore Development.

Mangaluru/Udupi, May 20: The twin districts of coastal Karnataka today reported seven new coronavirus cases. Six cases were reported from Udupi district and one from Dakshina Kannada.

All the six new coronavirus patients in Udupi have been admitted to Dr TMA Pai Covid hospital.

With the new case, 22 confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported so far in the district, including a one death. Three have recovered, and 18 are active.

55th case in Mangaluru

The new coronavirus patient in Dakshina Kannada is a 40-year-old woman from Neermarga near Mangaluru.

With this, the total number of cases in Dakshina Kannada has risen to 55 out of which 33 are currently active.

The woman had travelled from Rajajinagar in Bengaluru along with her son to Mangaluru on May 10.

Sources said that she was residing in two houses at Kudupu and Kuttikala.

She was suffering from Asthma and respiratory problems. She was admitted to Wenlock COVID hospital on May 17.