On an average, three Goans get Portuguese citizenship every day
TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: The latest official figures show that an average of three Goans get Portuguese citizenship daily. From January 2011, over 2,100 Goans have officially applied for Portuguese citizenship at the rate of more than a thousand per year.
The Portuguese passport is availed to get legal entry to Europe and subsequent access to other parts of the world.
According to the government 2,183 people are holding Portuguese nationality and passport with 1, 939 holding Portuguese passport while 244 hold Portuguese nationality. Their names have been deleted from the electoral rolls
Also – despite popular perception – people holding Portuguese passport and nationality are spread over all 40 constituencies, but the highest concentration has been reported in St Cruz, St Andre, Benaulim, Cortalim and Vasco.
Also a total of 1,00, 119 people have been struck off from the voters list since January 2011 for holding Portuguese passport and nationality, British and Australia passport, foreign nationality, being non-Indian citizens, death, missing, etc, according to a written reply tabled on the floor of the house by the Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.
The reply further states that the names of 675 people have been deleted from the voters list with the reason being ‘not citizen of India’ while another 83 names have been erased for being foreign nationals.
The government has also identified 50 non resident Indians (NRIs) and four people holding British and Australian passport. All the names have been deleted.
Vasco (5,634) constituency tops the list as far as the names of number of voters are deleted. It is followed by Margao (4,271), Mormugao (4,024), Ponda (3,489), Curchorem (3,463) and Taleigao (3,140).
The issue of Portuguese nationality has been in the news recently as disqualification petitions were filed against BJP’s Aldona legislator Glen Ticlo and Goa Vikas Party Benaulim legislator Caetano Silva for holding dual citizenship. The High Court of Bombay at Goa is hearing the Silva case, while the governor has referred the petition against Ticlo to the Election Commission for opinion.
Another petition has also been filed in the High Court asking for an FIR to be filed against two police officers, two legislators , 43 advocates, six persons working under the High Court and 500 others persons working or retired in government departments for having dual citizenship and being a threat to national security. The petition includes the names of Ticlo and Silva along with superintendents of police Jose Allen D’Sa and Edwin Colaco.
