By IANS,
Washington, May 24 (IANS) A leading association of People of Indian Origin (PIOs) has launched an online petition to the Indian government to reconsider the retroactive enforcement of the new rules on surrender of Indian passports by those who have acquired citizenship of other countries.
The Global Organisation for the People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) says the new rules impose undue and unnecessary burden on people of Indian origin.
“The notice posted on the website of several Indian embassies and consulates stipulates that Persons of Indian Origin, who have acquired citizenship of other countries, are required to surrender their Indian passports to the nearest consulate within 90 days of their acquisition of citizenship of those other countries,” the petition says.
The prescribed fee of $175 sought from the PIOs for this purpose is also “highly atrocious”, it said.
Launched by GOPIO chairman Inder Singh Saturday, the petition has been signed by more than 850 PIOs so far.
It has urged the Indian government to reduce the fee to a reasonable amount of $25.