WHILE an estimated 714 million Indians were eligible to vote in this election (an increase of 43 million from the 2004 elections), some 30 million Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) remained deprived of this fundamental right. There has been a long-pending demand by NRIs to take part in the electoral process back home. Promises were made by many leaders, but nothing substantive has been done so far. The move by the outgoing Cabinet to clear amendments to the Representation of People's Act Bill had given NRIs some hope. That was in 2006. In 2008, the Bill was again tabled in the budget session of parliament, but no decision was taken. Now the present parliament's term expires on June 1, and the Bill has once again been placed on the back burner. In fact, the amendment in the 1950 Act cleared by the present Manmohan Singh government does not serve the purpose. It only expands the definition of “ordinarily resident” as mentioned in Section 20 of the Representation of People's Act. This amendment entitles NRIs to enroll and take part in the voting process if they are physically present in their home constituencies. There is no provision for NRIs to vote from their places of residence in a foreign land. I realize that it would be a tedious process for Indian missions abroad to register and process the ballots of the 30 million Indians residing abroad. But then many other countries are doing so through different methods. Citizens of US, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Canada take part in their countries' democratic process through postal ballots. Those from Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, France, Russia, Sweden, Philippines, Japan, and Dominican Republic do so at their missions abroad. France has adopted the latest Internet technology to allow e-voting. In fact the Philippines has already announced the dates for the registration of new overseas Filipino workers so as to enable them to vote in the May 10, 2010, presidential and senatorial elections. Indians residing abroad outnumber any other nationalities. There are an estimated eight million Filipinos overseas. In comparison, approximately 4.5 million Indians reside in the Gulf region alone. This huge number also means a huge benefit to the exchequer. According to Reserve Bank of India figures, NRI remittances increased to $43.5 billion during 2007-08 as compared to $30.8 billion in 2006-07. Private money transfers account for around three percent of India's GDP. Given these figures, Indians residing abroad must have a say in electing governments back home. But how? There are many ways it can be done. Many US states allow absentee voting, which enables bona fide voters to cast ballots even though they are not able to go to the polling booths on the election day. Another effective way is by proxy voting where a person delegates his voting rights to another person. In fact, India did allow this kind of voting for its armed forces personnel through an amendment in the RPA in 2003. Proxy voting is now an established norm for British expatriates, who till the mid-80s could not take part in the election process back home. Many other countries, such as, China, Canada, Algeria allow proxy voting. So if the UK, on whose Westminster pattern India's parliamentary system is based, can adopt and successfully run a proxy voting system, why can't India? I do not know what has stopped the successive governments in India from acting on this issue and implementing a system convenient to all NRIs. One of the reasons may be a lack of resources to effectively perform the Herculean task of NRI voter registration. But if India adopts a system of proxy voting, then voter registration can be done in India itself when NRIs visit home. At the time of registration, they can nominate their proxies.
