From now on, Indian Foreign Citizen (OCI) cardholders will need to obtain special permission from the Center if they wish to engage in any missionary or ‘Tabligh’ or journalistic activity in the country, the Home Office reported on Thursday.
However, the MHA has made a significant concession to OCI cardholders by allowing them parity with Indian citizens in terms of airfare fares in national sectors, entrance fees to visit national parks, national monuments and museums in India.
OCI card holders will be entitled to obtain a multiple entry lifetime visa to visit India for any purpose, but “they must obtain a special permit or a special permit from the Regional Alien Registration Officer or the Indian Mission to carry out investigations and carry out any mission or Tabligh or mountaineering or journalistic activities, ”the MHA notification said.
OCI card holders will also need to obtain special permission to do internship in foreign diplomatic missions or foreign government organizations in India or to work in foreign diplomatic missions in India or to visit any place that is within the protected limits, restricted or prohibited areas notified by the central government or the competent authority.
In March 2020, when the national lockdown was in effect following the coronavirus outbreak, more than 2,500 Tablighi Jamaat members were found to be residing at the organization’s headquarters in Delhi’s Nizamuddin despite directives and orders issued against large congregations. of people. Several of these members had tested positive for coronavirus.
Up to 233 foreign workers from Tablighi were arrested for violating visa rules and by June, the MHA had blacklisted 2,550 foreign Tablighi Jamaat members and banned their entry into India for 10 years.
Tablighi Jamaat workers, both foreign and Indian, go on preaching tours around the country, also known as “Chilla”, in which a volunteer from the organization travels for 120 days to various parts of the country and stays in local mosques. where they inform the neighborhood. people about their activities in addition to making special prayers.
Meanwhile, OCI cardholders will now be exempt from registration with the Foreign Regional Registration Officer (FRRO) or the Foreign Registration Officer (FRO) for any period of stay in India, but must report to the FRRO or FRO corresponding whenever there is a change. in permanent residence and in their occupation.
The OCI cardholders, according to the ministry, will also obtain parity with Non-Resident Indians in matters of international adoption of indigenous children subject to compliance with the procedure established by the competent authority for said adoption; stand for All India Entrance Tests such as National Eligibility Test with Entrance, Joint Entrance Exam (network) or other similar tests to be eligible for admission only against any non-resident Indian seat or any seat supernumerary, as long as the OCI card holder will not be eligible for admission to any seat reserved exclusively for Indian nationals, the notice said.
They will obtain parity in the purchase or sale of real estate properties other than agricultural land or agricultural estates or plantation properties and practicing professions such as doctors, dentists, nurses, pharmacists, lawyers, architects, public accountants in India according to the provisions contained in applicable law. relevant statutes or laws.
In addition, the OCI card holder will have the same rights and privileges as a foreigner, the notification added.
The holder of an OCI card is a foreign citizen who has a passport from a foreign country and is not a citizen of India.
On January 13, the Supreme Court ordered the government to facilitate the return of acquitted foreigners to their respective countries. While acquitting foreigners from 14 countries of all charges in December last year, the court said the prosecution was unable to prove the presence of the defendants at the Markaz facility during the period from March 12 to April 1.
The court had further said in its order that, according to the evacuee list, none of the defendants had symptoms of Covid19 and therefore there was no question of any negligent act on their part that, to the best of their knowledge or belief, it would probably spread the infection.
With PTI inputs
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