New Delhi: Aiming to increase the participation of Indian diaspora in the country’s various flagship programmes, the Central government is considering issuing Aadhaar cards to Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), with external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj indicating on Saturday that there could be a decision regarding this in future. “So far Aadhaar card has been given to those Indians who live in India. It is not for NRIs. But you will be happy to know that the PM wants the card to be given to the NRIs,” Ms Swaraj said.
“The Prime Minister even wants it for OCI (Overseas Citizens of India card) holders. The matter is under our consideration. No decision has been taken as discussions on it are under way. I hope soon you will hear about it,” Ms Swaraj said during an interaction with several Indian diaspora community members of various countries via video-conferencing on the occasion of the Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas.
The government has so far issued Aadhaar cards to over 92 crore citizens. Under the programme, every citizen is to be provided with a 12-digit unique identification number for which biometric information is collected. Highlighting the fact that the government is always there for Indians as well as people of Indian origin and NRIs all parts of the world, in the times of crisis, Ms Swaraj urged upon the diaspora to heed to advisories which are issued by the government at the time of crisis. “I sincerely request you to act on time when advisories are issued and try and leave the country (wherever there is a crisis or a threat perception) as soon as possible. Unfortunately there are several people who don’t heed to the advisories and when the situation goes out of hand, then it becomes difficult for us to evacuate people from such places,” the minister said in her keynote address to a gathering of diplomats and people from the diaspora, to mark the Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas.
Ms Swaraj took pride in the fact that despite facing some difficult situations while evacuating several Indian nationals from crisis-ridden nations like Ukraine, Libya and Yemen, since the NDA Government came into power 19 months back, all the operations were successful and in addition to that not only Indians, but even several foreign nationals were evacuated by the Indian Navy and Indian Air Force, especially from a tough terrain like Yemen.
