Move aimed at quick disposal of land cases
Keeping in view the hardships non-resident Indians(NRIs) have to face in getting
their land cases settled, the punjab government has fast track revenue courts
exclusively for them.
Superseding its earlier orders whereby the existing courts of tehsildars and
naib tehsildars were designated as fast track courts for NRI's, the Departments
of Revenue and Rehabilitation(Juidicial wing) has decided to establish separate
fast track courts for NRIs in Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Moga and Nawanshahr
districts, to which neighbouring districts have been attached.
Amritsar, Kapurthala and Ludhiana districts have been attached to Jalandhar,
Gurdaspur to Hoshiarpur Muktsar, Faridkot, Bhatinda, Mansa, Sangrur and
Ferozepur to Moga and Ropar, Patiala and Fatehgarh Sahib to Nawanshahr.
District Revenue Officers (DROs) of Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Moga and Nawanshahr
would function as AC first and second grade and any appeal against their orders
would
be to respective ADCs.
The petitioner NRI would have to prove his status with valid documents before
his case is taken up in the fast track court.
The pending cases in ordinary revenue courts too would be transferred to fast
track courts.
No specific time-limit has been fixed for the settlement of NRIs' land cases,
though instructions have been given to "adopt a very reasonable time-limit in
settling matters".
The Deputy Commissioners have been directed to provide requisite infrastructure
for these courts and monitor the progress of cases.
Source : The Tribune
Dated : January 17, 2006
Govt Launches Overseas Citizenship Scheme
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The government today launched the Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) scheme for
Indian diaspora abroad and the first OCI card will be given by the Prime
Minister at the Pravasi Bharati Divas on January 7 in Hyderabad.
"In pursuance of the Prime Minister's statement in Pravasi divas this year, the
Citizenship Act, 1955, has been amended to extend the scope of the OCI to
Persons of Indian Origin of all nationalities other than Pakistan and Bangladesh
that allow dual citizenship under their local laws in some form or the other,"
the Joint Secretary (Foreigners Division) in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Mr
D.S. Mishra, told newspersons here.
The scheme becomes effective from today and people in any part of the world can
apply "from now on" either online (www.mha.nic.in) or through Indian missions.
Mr Mishra said the entire process from the application for the OCI and issuance
of the OCI card would take about a month. In case of people having some cases
against them, the process would go through proper scrutinisation and would take
four months.
Mr Mishra did not have an estimate about how many members of the Indian diaspora
abroad would be benefited. He also parried a question on whether people from
Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) would be included.
He said the scheme would be applicable to all Indian citizens in countries which
allow dual citizenship. The government had made a list of 71 such countries so
far and the list would be upgraded.
"The date of January 7 has been chosen for handing over the first OCI card
because processing takes a month and anybody who applies today will be given
card within a month," Mr Mishra said.
Clarifying the difference between the OCI scheme and the one for Persons of
Indian Origin, Mr Mishra said: "While the Persons of Indian Origin scheme is
statutory, the OCI has been launched after amending the Citizenship Act."
Mr Mishra, however, clarified that such registered OCIs shall not be entitled to
the rights conferred on a citizen of India under Article 16 of the Constitution
with regard to equality of opportunity in matters of public employment, election
to constitutional offices like the President, the Vice-President, the Judges of
the Supreme Court or the high courts, the MPs or Legislative Assembly, council
or right to vote under the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
- The Persons of Indian Origin scheme is for only 15 years, while the OCI is
lifelong.
- A person of Indian origin has to get registered with the Foreigners Division if
he/she stays in India for more than 180 days, while an OCI card holder is not
required to register.
- The OCI card holder gets all rights of an NRI. The fee for an OCI card is $275,
while that for a Persons of Indian Origin is $25.
- The OCI scheme will be applicable to all overseas Indians, who have migrated
from India after January 26, 1950.
- The OCIs will have multi-purpose, multi-entry and lifelong visas.
- Every registered OCI will be issued a registration certificate that is printed
like an Indian passport in different colour and an OCI visa sticker will be
pasted in the person's foreign passport
Source : The Tribune
December 2, 2005
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