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More than a year after the Non-Resident Indians were granted voting rights, a representative body of NRIs from Punjab has urged the Indian Government to develop a mechanism which will facilitate them to exercise their right.
“Lok Sabha Elections are coming very near but there is no mechanism for the NRI community to cast their votes in the fourth coming Lok Sabha elections,” President of North American Punjabi Association Satnam Singh Chahal said.
Milpitas, California-based Chahal said it is not possible for eligible voters to travel to India just to cast their votes, neither it is economically viable.
As such he urged the Indian Government and the Election Commission of India to grant “proxy-voting” to NRIs.
“The voting may be allowed by mail as is available to the members of armed and security agencies and the staff engaged on election duty,” he said, adding that a delegation of NAPA had met the then Chief Election Commissioner of India Dr S Y Quraishi and had submitted a memorandum in this regard. But nothing has moved so far.
“The overseas Indian diplomatic missions may be authorized to receive the ballots for onward submission to respective constituencies in India,” Chahal said in a media release.
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