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New Delhi, Just two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in New York that Person of Indian Origin (PIO) cardholders would get lifetime visas and be exempt from police reporting in India, his government has walked the talk and formally notified the two measures.
The Union home ministry, in deference to the declaration made by Modi while addressing the Indian diaspora at Madison Square Garden in New York, issued a notification on Tuesday making PIO cards valid for lifetime and doing away with the requirement of police reporting/registration by those holding these cards.
“In pursuance of the announcement made by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, at Madison Square Garden in New York on September 28, 2014, ministry of home affairs has issued a notification on September 30, 2014 to the effect that Person of Indian Origin (PIO) card shall be valid for life time and the PIO card holder shall be exempt from police reporting/registration, ” said the home ministry notification.
It further clarified that all the cards issued prior to September 30, 2014, shall be automatically deemed to have lifetime validity.
Modi had on Sunday announced to a rapturous crowd of Indian-origin people at New York’s Madison Square Garden that PIO cardholders would get lifelong visas. “Happy?,” he had asked amid loud cheers from the audience. “There is more to come,” he said, before declaring that NRIs staying in India for long would not have to visit the police station for reporting/registration anymore.
Modi also promised that the PIO and Overseas Citizens of India schemes would be merged and a new comprehensive scheme announced soon.
