 bill no 38 of  2007 the non-resident indians (voting rights and welfare) bill, 2007 by shri ck chandrappan, mp a billto provide for voting rights and setting up of a national commission for non-resident indians for the purpose of providing assistance to them in the countries where they reside and work and for matters connected therewith or incidental theretobe it enacted by parliament in the fifty-eighth year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the  non-resident indians (voting rights and welfare)act, 2007short title, extent and commencement(2) it extends to the whole of india5(3) it shall come into force at oncedefinitions2 (1) in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(i) "appropriate government" means in the case of a state, the government ofthat state and in all other cases, the central government;510 15(ii) "commission" means the national commission for non-resident indians set up under section 5;(iii) "committee" means the non-resident indian coordination committee set up under section 9;(iv) "corporation" means the non-resident indians rehabilitation corporation set up under section 4;(v) "fund" means the non-resident indian assistance fund set up under section 8;(vi) "non-residnet indian" means any person who is a citizen of india and who stays abroad for employment or for carrying on any business or vocation outside india; and(vii) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act3 notwithstanding anything contained in any other law, for the time being in force, every non-resident indian shall have right to vote in all elections to the house of the people, legislative assemblies of the states/union territories and local bodiesright to vote for nonresident indians4 (1) the central government shall constitute a non-resident indians rehabilitation corporation in such manner as may be prescribednon-resident indians rehabilitation corporation(2) the corporation shall have a fund to which shall be credited all monies received from the non-resident indians by way of investment in such manner as may be prescribed20(3) the fund shall be used for projects aimed at rehabilitation of the non-resident indians including projects relating to housing, health care, education or tourism5 (1) the central government shall, within three months from the commencement of this act, set up a national commission for non-resident indians(2) the commission shall consist of:national commission for non- resident indians25(i) an eminent person having special knowledge or practical experience in the field of welfare of non-resident indians who shall be nominated by the central government as chairman;(ii) three members of parliament of whom two shall be from lok sabha and one from rajya sabha, to be nominated by the presiding officers of the respective houses;30(iii) three members of legislative assemblies of the states from where a large number of non-resident indians are working abroad, to be nominated by the central government;(iv) one eminent lawyer to be nominated by the central government; and(v) one eminent journalist to be nominated by the central government35(3)  the commission shall have a term of office of three years(4) the salaries and allowances payable to and other conditions of service of the chairman and other members of the commission shall be such as may be prescribed40(5) the commission shall have its head office in new delhi (6) the central government shall provide such number of officers and staff to the commission as is required for its efficient functioning(7) the salaries and allowances payable to and other conditions of service of the officers and staff of the commission shall be such as may be prescribed6 the commission shall perform the following functions, namely:—functions of the commission45(i) make recommendations to the government regarding formulation of a welfare policy for the non-resident indians;(ii) study the problems being faced by the non-resident indians and suggest measures to overcome them;(iii) take steps for the promotion of social, economic and cultural interests of the non-resident indians;5(iv) work out a method in coordination with other authorities for enabling nonresident indians to exercise their right to vote during elections to the house of the people, legislative assemblies of the states and local bodies;(v) work in coordination with the embassies and high commissions of indiato solve the problems of the non-resident indians in those countries; and(vi) act as nodal agency for all issues relating to non-resident indians107 the commission shall submit an annual report on its functioning to thepresident who shall cause it to be laid in each house of parliament not later than a period of thirty days from the date of its submission to the president8 (1) the central government shall set up a fund to be known as the non-resident indians assistance fundcommission to submit an annual reportnon-resident indians assistance fund15(2) the central government and the state governments shall contribute to the fund in such ratio as may be prescribed(3) such other sums as may be received by way of donation, contribution or assistance from non-resident indians or otherwise shall also be credited to the fund(4) the fund shall be used for meeting the expenditure incurred in the implementation of measures undertaken for the welfare of non-resident indians209 (1) every embassy/high commission of india shall constitute a non-residentindian coordination committee to be headed by an officer not below the rank of first secretary and two other officers having such qualifications as may be prescribed:provided that at least one of the members of the coordination committee shall have knowledge of the mother tongue of the non-resident indians living in that country25(2) the committee shall keep the details of all the non-resident indians living in thatcountryevery embassy/ high commission to constitute a nonresident indian coordination committee(3) the committee shall render all assistance to the non-resident indians in case of any problem including problem relating to their jobs, health care or in completion of all formalities in case of death30(4) the committee shall also render legal assistance to the non-resident indianswhenever required10 (1) the appropriate government shall designate the block development officer as the nodal officer in every block of  the country to maintain a register for the citizens going abroad containing such details as may be prescribed35block development officer to keep details of citizens going abroad(2) it shall be the duty of every citizen going abroad for residence or work to registerhimself with the nodal officer appointed under sub-section (1)11 (1) the appropriate government shall appoint an officer not below the rank of district collector in every district to compile the details of all the citizens residing within their respective jurisdiction and going abroad for residence or work and forward the same to the respective embassy or high commission of india, as the case may be, for information40(2) it shall be the duty of every nodal officer so designated under sub-section (1)of section 10 to forward to the district collector the details of citizens going abroad for residence or work in such manner as may be prescribeddistrict collector to compile and forward the details of citizens going abroad to embassies/ high commissionspower to make rules4512 the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules forcarrying out the purposes of the act statement of objects and reasonsthere are millions of indians working all over the world in different walks of lifethey are the non-resident indians (nris) whose contribution to our economy cannot be over-emphasizedthere are eminent scientists, information technology experts, engineers, doctors, nurses, teachers and large number of workers, both skilled and unskilled, among them their problems are varied and many there is no comprehensive legislation for tackling their problems this bill is an attempt in that directionthey are living in a foreign country and in case of any difficulty, they have to fend for themselves if they fall ill, there is nobody to take care of them if, unfortunately, they die, so many formalities have to be completed that their kins have no clue moreover, in case of any legal wrangle, they have no idea whom to approach for help in case of their working conditions, pay, medical care, etc, there are many complaints and there is no mechanism with our foreign missions to take care and attend to themon the other hand it is unfortunate that there is no mechanism in our country to keep record of citizens going abroad for work in the absence of any data, it becomes difficult to formulate any policy for their welfare besides, the non-resident indians have also been making demand that they be given right to votein view of the above, it is proposed in the bill to provide them right to vote and to set up a national commission for non-resident indians which will have mandate to work for the welfare of non-resident indians in addition, a non-resident indians assistance fund is also proposed it is also proposed to set up a coordination committee in every embassy/high commission of india with the purpose of looking after the welfare of the indian citizens living therehence this bill financial memorandumclause 4 of the bill provides for the constitution of a non-resident indians rehabilitation corporation clause 5 provides for setting up a national commission for non-resident indians clause 6 provides that the commissions shall study the problems being faced by the non-resident indians and take steps for tackling them clause 7 provides that the commission shall submit an annual report to the president clause 8 provides for the setting up of non-resident indians assistance fund clause 9 provides for the constitution of coordination committee in every embassy/high commission for providing assistance to the indians living in those countries clause 11 provides that the district collector shall forward the details of indian citizens going abroad for work to embassies/high commissions concerned the bill, therefore, if enacted, will involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india it is estimated that a recurring expenditure of rupees one hundred crore will be involvedno non-recurring expenditure is likely to be involved memorandum regarding delegated legislationclause 12 empowers the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill since the rules will relate to matters of detail only, the delegation of legislative power is of a normal character———— a billto provide for voting rights and setting up of a national commission for non-residentindians for the purpose of providing assistance to them in the countries where theyreside and work and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto————(shri ck chandrappan, mp)mgipmrnd—1070ls(s5)—14-03-2007