Only 24K overseas Indians registered as voters, 98% of them are from Kerala

Agencies
August 13, 2017

New Delhi, Aug 13: A little over 24,000 overseas Indians, who are entitled to cast their ballot in India, have registered themselves as voters.

Now, in a bid to attract more such Indian citizens living abroad to become voters here, the Election Commission has launched a portal which allows them to register online.

The portal also has a long list of frequently asked questions to help people understand the procedure.

While there are no estimates on the number of overseas Indians eligible to vote in India, only 24,348 have registered with the poll panel.

Out of these, 23,556 are from Kerala, 364 from Punjab and 14 from Gujarat, according to the data provided by the Commission.

According to the ‘Overseas Indian Voters’ portal, an overseas elector is a person who is a citizen of India and who has not acquired citizenship of any other country.

The portal can be accessed through the Election Commission website: eci.nic.in.

Such people are eligible to be registered as voters in the constituency in which their place of residence in India, as mentioned in their original Indian passport in which visa endorsement has been made, is located.

Once their name is registered as a voter, the election officials of the constituency concerned will inform the overseas Indian by post on his or latest address abroad.

But, the portal clarifies, that overseas electors are not issued an election photo identity card as they are allowed to cast vote in an election in the constituency in person at the polling station on showing their original passport.

Data shows that only 10,000 to 12,000 NRIs have voted because they do not want to spend foreign currency to come to India and exercise their franchise.

Now, things may change as the Union Cabinet had on August 2 cleared a proposal to extend proxy voting to overseas Indians by amending electoral laws.

While NRIs and overseas Indians are free to cast their votes in constituencies where they are registered, according to the proposal, they would also be allowed to use the option of proxy, which as of now is only available to service personnel.

An expert committee in the Election Commission working on the issue had, in 2015, forwarded the legal framework to the law ministry to amend electoral laws to allow overseas Indians use proxy voting.

But for every election, the overseas voters will have to name a new person as their proxy.

Proxy voting is allowed for members of the armed forces.

The bill to allow the new provision for overseas voters could not be introduced in the Monsoon session of Parliament which ended on Friday.

Comments

Mohammed Farooq
 - 
Monday, 14 Aug 2017

whats the portal link

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
June 25,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 25: Former Karnataka chief minister and Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Kumaraswamy on Wednesday claimed that there are shortage of beds and ventilators to treat COVID-19 patients in the state.

In a series of tweets, he targetted the Karnataka government on COVID-19 management.

"The state government has failed to provide adequate treatment to those infected with corona. There are no beds and no ventilators to treat more than four thousand patients. Self-induced lockdown is the only solution," he tweeted.

In his subsequent tweet, he said, "Residents of the state, including Bangalore, now have only one way to escape from COVID-19. Stay at home and celebrate yourself as a self-proclaimed lockdown. Money is not more important than life. Your life is in your hands now."

In another tweet, former Chief Minister alleged that the government has fixed Rs 10-15,000 per day for COVID-19 treatment in private hospitals.

"The state government is also saying this indirectly. The 'home remedy' in the home is to stay at home and be safe. The government has fixed Rs 10-15,000 per day for the treatment of this infection in private hospitals. How poor can afford it while upper class can't afford," he tweeted.

"If four members of a family infected with corona, the cost of treatment for a 15-day treatment at a private hospital is Rs 5-6 lakh. Where do the poor bring that Much money? We must save our lives while the government is sitting incapable. This is my concern for the people of the state," he said in another tweet.

In a video message that HD Kumaraswamy demanded the state government to give all kinds of safety and security to the students who are writing the SSLC exam tomorrow.
HD Kumaraswamy also urged students to be careful.

About 8,48,203 students will appear in the Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) examination tomorrow, said Karnataka Health Minister B Sriramulu on Wednesday.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
April 2,2020

Bengaluru, Apr 2: In a bid to discourage people from coming out on roads during the lockdown, Bengaluru Traffic Police have inscribed a message that reads, "If you come to road, I'll come to your home."

It was written on the road at Nagenahalli check-post. The message was written by the cops in the regional language.

Meanwhile, nine fresh cases were reported in Karnataka with the count rising to 110 in the state on Wednesday.

Out of the total cases, three persons died due to the virus while nine others have been discharged after recovery.

"COVID-19 cases climb to 110 in Karnataka, with nine fresh cases being reported between 5 pm yesterday and 2 pm today. Out of the total cases, three have died while nine others have been discharged," a bulletin issued by the state health department said.

"Out of 110 cases detected and confirmed in Karnataka so far, seven cases are transit
passengers of Kerala who have landed in our airports and being treated in
Karnataka," it added.

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Wednesday said that there are 1,834 coronavirus positive cases in India, including 1,649 active cases, 144 cured/discharged/migrated people and 41 deaths.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
coastaldigest.com web desk
July 23,2020

Mangaluru, July 23: Lavanya Ballal, national co-coordinator for social media department of Indian National Congress, has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of destroying the nation by misleading the youth.

In an interview with a regional Kannada news paper, the Dakshina Kannada based activist, lamented that instead of using social media for the welfare of the nation, BJP leaders used it to spread lies for their political gains. 

On one hand BJP fooled people through false promises and colourful dialogues, while on the other hand it misled crores of youth by spreading fake news, twisted facts and false information, she said.

Ms Ballal went on to accuse BJP of following the footsteps of the British. “BJP is following all the methods employed by the British invaders to divide the people of India and make them hate each other,” she said.

She said that Congress always used the social media for the benefit of the country. If the new generation realises this fact, the country will once again turn its direction towards development, she asserted.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.