 bill no 175 of  2018 the non-resident indians (voting rights and welfare) bill, 2018 byshri om prakash yadav, 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 sixty-ninth year of the republic of india as follows:—short title and extent1 (1) this act may be called the non-resident indians (voting rights and welfare) act, 20185(2) it extends to the whole of indiadefinitions2 (1) in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(i) "appropriate government" means in the case of a state, the government of that state and in all other cases, the central government;(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;5(iv) "corporation" means the non-resident indians rehabilitation corporation set up under section 4;(v) "fund" means the non-resident indians assistance fund set up under section 8;10(vi) "non-resident 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 the rules made under this actright to vote for non- resident indians153 notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, every non-resident indian shall have the right to vote in all elections to the house of the people, legislative assemblies of the states/union territories and local bodies 4 (1) the central government shall constitute a non-resident indians rehabilitation corporation in such manner as may be prescribednon-resident indians rehabilitation corporation20(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 prescribed(3) the fund shall be utilized for projects aimed at rehabilitation of the nonresident indians including projects relating to housing, health care, education or tourism255 (1) the central government shall, within three months from the commencement of this act, set up a commission to be known as the national commission for non-resident indiansnational commission for non-resident indians(2) the commission shall consist of:(i) an eminent person having special:chairperson;knowledge or practical experience in the field of welfare of non-resident indians30(ii) three members of parliament—two from:members;lok sabha and one from rajya sabha, to be nominated by the presiding officers of the respective houses35(iii) three members of legislative:members; andassemblies of the states from which large number of people work abroad, to be nominated by the presiding officers of the respective assemblies of the states40(iv) an eminent jurist and an eminent:membersjournalist to be nominated by  the  central government(3) the chairperson and other members of the commission shall hold office for a period of three years45(4) the salary and allowances payable to and other terms and conditions of service of the chairperson and other members of the commission shall be such as may be prescribed(5) the commission shall have its head office in new delhi50(6) the central government shall provide such number of officers and staff to the commission as is required for its efficient functioning(7) the salary and allowances payable to and other terms and 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 commission(i) make recommendations to the central government regarding formulation of a welfare policy for the non-resident indians;5(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 interestsof the non-resident indians;10(iv) work out a method in coordination with other authorities for enablingnon-resident  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 india to solve the problems of the non-resident indians in those countries; and(vi) act as the nodal agency for all issues relating to non-resident indians15commission to submit an annual report7 the commission shall submit an annual report on its functioning to the president who shall cause it to be laid in each house of parliament within one month if parliament is in session, and if parliament is not in session, within ten days of the first sitting on commencement of the next session208 (1) the central government shall set up a fund to be known as the non-resident indians assistance fundnon-resident indians assistance fund(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 fund25(4) the fund shall be used for meeting the expenditure incurred in the implementation of measures undertaken for the welfare of non-resident indians309 (1) every embassy or high commission of india shall constitute a non-resident indian 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:every embassy or high commission to constitute a non-resident indian coordination committeeprovided 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 country35(2) the committee shall keep the details of all the non-resident indians living inthat country(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 death40(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 to maintain a register for the citizens going abroad containing such details as may be prescribed45block 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 register himself 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 information5district collector to compile and forward the details of citizens going abroad to embassies/high commissions(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 prescribedpower to make rules12 (1) the government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this act101520(2) every rule made under this act by the government and every notification issued under section 13, shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made or issued, before each house of parliament, while it is in session for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both houses agree in making any modification in the rule or notification or both houses agree that the rule or notification should not be made or issued, the rule or notification shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be, so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule or notification 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 lookedthere 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, many formalities have to be completed about which 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 their grievanceson the other hand, it is very 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 demanding voting rights for a long timein 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 co-ordination committee in every embassy/high commission of india with the purpose of looking after the welfare of the indian citizens living therehence this billnew delhi;om prakash yadavnovember 28, 2018 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 8 provides for setting up of a non-resident indians assistance fund clause 9 provides for the constitution of co-ordination committee in every embassy or 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 involved per annumno non-recurring expenditure is likely to be involved memorandum  regarding  delegated  legislationclause 12 of the bill empowers the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill as the rules will relate to matters of detail only, the delegation of legislative power is, therefore, of a normal character———— 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 thereto—————(shri om prakash yadav, mp)