Indian expats one step closer to overseas voting

Abu Dhabi - The Indian Embassy has launched a drive to encourage Indian expatriates in the UAE to register their details with the mission as the first step towards facilitating overseas voting of NRIs and to reach out to them in a better way. At a Press conference held at the mission on Wednesday, officials urged all Indians in the UAE to register with the mission through the web portal www.uaeindians.org, the link which is also provided on the website of the embassy, www.indembassyuae.org. “We have a number of initiatives coming up including the NRI voting system,” said Neeta Bhushan, deputy chief of mission and the head of chancery. “If we know the numbers, we can reach out to the community in a better way and render any assistance as and when required.” The Indian government is currently framing the rules and regulations to facilitate NRIs to cast votes from abroad after the Supreme Court recently approved an amendment to the People’s Representation Act. Bhushan said getting expatriate Indians registered and forming their database were the initial steps that the mission was undertaking to facilitate the NRI voting system, the framework for which is expected to be in place “within a few months”. “If you are registered here, your registration with the Election Commission in India will be much easier and faster,” she said. Though the Indian expatriates in the UAE are estimated to be around 2.6 million, only some 40,000 of them have registered their details. “Being the largest community, we grapple with a lot of issues on a daily basis. So, it will be beneficial for us to know the details of all Indians to provide all our assistance and communicate various information to the community faster.”   Khaleej Times