PANJIM: The Goans For Goa (GFG) along with other prominent activists will organise an interactive meeting on the topic ‘Goans for OCI – An Open Mike Solidarity’ at the Azad Maidan, Panjim on Tuesday, January 9 from 10 am to noon.
Many activists, politicians, advocates and intellectuals have pledged their support to the movement and over 26 key personalities have reserved their time to speak on the issue, to show their solidarity towards the people, who have been denied OCI (Overseas Citizenship of India), due to the ‘unwarranted’ revocation of Indian passports, and denial of OCI status, according to GFG convenor Kennedy Afonso.
“We have chosen January 9 being the Prawasi Bharatiya Divas, when the day when the OCI programme was first launched in Hyderabad in 2006, so as to help foreigners with Indian origin to establish their connect with India. However, today, after 18 years, it looks as if the Government of India is sending people out of the country, by denying them the right to apply for OCI, thus making them Stateless in their own homeland,” Afonso said.
He said that the objectives of Goans For Goa is two-fold. First it is to highlight the hardship and the trauma faced by the people whose Indian passports have been revoked, so that the government takes serious notice of the problem and secondly to discuss various issues created due a circular dated November 30, 2022 issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) without putting it up on any public domain, without any thought and application of mind and to find solutions to the various difficulties faced by the people due to this circular.
The GFG has been interacting with various affected people, and has identified three segments of people that are affected due to the circular, and these three segments each need specific solutions that need to be addressed by the Union government immediately.
It has demanded that the government should immediately resolve the issue and provide relief to people affected with revocation of Indian Passports, and subsequent non-issue of surrender certificate, without which one cannot apply for OCI status and to give one-time amnesty to the affected people, by issuing a surrender certificate with penalty as was done before the circular. The normal fee for OCI which is Rs 15,000 could be increased to Rs 25,000 for revoked passport holders.
