PANAJI
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has reiterated the State government’s commitment to resolve the issue of passport revocation by once again raising concerns of the Goan community with the Central government.
The CM stated that he will convey the demand to give ‘surrender certificates’ to persons affected by passport revocation to enable them to apply for OCI cards. He is scheduled to meet Home Minister Amit Shah for further discussions on Saturday.
“We are working closely with the Government of India to ensure persons affected by passport revocation receive ‘surrender certificates’ so that they can apply and get OCI cards,” Sawant stated after a meeting with a delegation led by Goans For Goa (GFG) Convener Kennedy Afonso at the Secretariat.
“There’s an urgent need to grant relief in the form of surrender certificates while long-term solutions are pursued by both the State and Centre. The CM has assured to raise the issue with the Centre once again,” Afonso said.
“This issue is already 15 months old, and people are facing hardships (due to the revocation of passports). We have stressed that they should get the surrender certificates as an immediate measure while the State and the Centre are resolving the issue for the long term,” Afonso told the media, adding that the CM has reassured them to raise the matter with the Centre.
