'PIO card'-Union Cabinet approves Visa-free entry for PIOs.
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Union Cabinet approves proposal to grant visa-free entry to persons of Indian origin by issuing them a special “PIO card”
Our Economy Bureau in New Delhi
The Union Cabinet Wednesday approved a proposal to grant visa-free entry to persons of Indian origin (PIO) by issuing them a special “PIO card”. Holders of the card will be accorded benefits and status similar to Non-resident Indians (NRIs).
An official spokesperson said today the PIOs will be given benefits in economic, financial and educational fields exept in the purchase of agricultural and plantation properties.
The home ministry will work out the details of the “PIO card” scheme later. Informed sources said the certeria for being eligible to the PIO status will be that persons who held Indian passports before relinquishing citizenship and those whose parents or grandparent were Indian citizens will be eligible.
The source said the purpose of the scheme was to allow easy entry to Indian settled in the west. The scheme will stress on filtering out PIOs from neighbouring countries who may attempt to enter the country under the relaxed guidelines.
The PIO facility was a long pending demand of former Indian citizens settled in the US and Europe. Many had complained that Indian visa restrictions and conditions for travel and investment were a damper. They wanted to be treated on par with NRIs.
In another decision, the Cabinet has also approved the setting up of the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation in which the Indian Railways and the Maharashtra government will share the equity on a 51:49 basis. The corporation will implement the Rs 6,000 crore Bombay Urban Transport Project-II which has been posed to the World Bank financing for financing.
Besides, the corporation will also be involved in the development of the existing Mumbai suburban rail services which currently caters to 5.5 million commuters per day. The new project is expected to ease the pressure on the existing service which sqeezes 4300 commuters per train against the carrying capacity of 1700.
The cabinet also decided to amend the Essential Commodities Act (amendment bill), 1998 so as to deal more effectively with persons indulging in hoarding and blackmarketing and profiteering in essential commodities and also make the law more deterrent.
The spokesperson said the amendment bill, presently before parliament will be further strengthened to make its provisions more stringent and effectively serve the purpose of doing away with hoarding and keeping prices in check.
The union cabinet also cleared a National Policy for Older Persons.
Under this the state will extend both financial security, healt care, shelter, welfare and other needs of older persons.Apart from this the Policy will also ensure larger budgetary support special emphasis for the rural and urban poor.
The Policy which will ensure that older persons are not marginalised and that they will have a legitimate place in soceity. In addition to this, the government will provide a framework and a national perspective for developing and administering programme interventions for the older persons.
Special attention will be given to older females as that they do not become victims of triple neglect and discrimination on account of gender, widowhood and age. The government will make special efforts to ensure that rural areas, where more than three fourths of the older population lives are adequately covered.
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