Those holding Portugal citizenship will have to appear before the collector if they wish to get back their Indian citizenship
PANAJI
The collectors of both districts will be empowered to take necessary decisions in matters pertaining to the dual citizenship issue involving a sizeable number of Goans who have secured Portuguese citizenship.
“Both district collectors will be appointed as ‘designated authority’ to decide under the Citizenship Act 1955 and Citizenship Rules 2009,” a highly placed source told The Goan. A proposal to this effect was
accepted by the central government at a meeting organised in New Delhi on Monday. Goa Additional Home Secretary Shrinet Kothwale and NRI Department Director Sanjiv Gadkar were present for the meeting, which was also attended by Union Home Ministry’s NRI department Joint Secretary Gopal Krishna Dwivedi. Under this decision, those persons who hold Portugal citizenship would have to
appear before the collector if they wish to get back their Indian citizenship, effectively ruling out the possibility of dual citizenship to those Portuguese citizens of Goans origin keen to retain Indian
citizenship. It may be recalled that the Centre had constituted a committee to resolve the matter of
dual citizenship. The committee headed by Union Home Ministry’s Additional Secretary B K Prasad had recommended that a person holding dual citizenship be given an option to chose any one country
and that, an authority be constituted to take suitable decision in the matter. The Centre had accepted
these recommendations and had permitted Goa to appoint an authority in this connection. Accordingly, the State government decided that the collectors would be the designated authority to decide on matters pertaining to the dual citizenship issue. According to ‘Citizenship Act 1955’, a person automatically ceases to be an Indian citizen by becoming a citizen of Portugal or any other country. Following the new agreement, those persons who hold Portugal citizenship would have to appear before the collector,
if they wish to get back their Indian citizenship. Earlier, raising the issue during his Goa visit, Union
Minister of Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju had said an authority would be created to decide on anything related to the dual citizenship issue as per the requirement and needs of local people in the State. “They should not run around in Delhi for their needs. Basically, we don’t want that decisions are taken in Delhi, it should
be done in Goa,” he said. Stating that the issue had been hanging fire for several years, Rijiju had informed, “It is unfortunate that many people were victims of the provisions of our country as well as
that of Portugal. I had personally taken special interest and set up a committee. The report is ready.”
The authority will ensure that Goans do not suffer because of the difference in Indian and Portuguese laws as regards the dual citizenship. “For so many years, nothing was being done in India. The issue relates to the conflicts of the provisions of the Constitution of both the countries. Very soon we will come
out with a notification and the authority will be set up”, informed Rijiju. As per information, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer has already deleted the names of around 26,000 Goans from the electoral roll.
