Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan on Friday informed the Lok Sabha that over one lakh Indians has renounced their citizenship between January to October 2022, according to a report by Hindustan Times.
He also said that as many as 32 million Indians or Indian origin people live abroad and the Ministry of External Affairs has been rendering services to all of them.
Muralieedharan informed the Lok Sabha that according to information available, 131,489 people gave up their Indian citizenship in 2015, 141,603 in 2016, 133,049 in 2017, 134,561 in 2018, 144,017 in 2019, 85,256 in 2020, 163,370 in 2021 and 1,83,741 till October 31 this year.
According to the Hindustan Times report, Muraleedharan said the ministry does not keep a tab on the “wealth taken away from India” by those who renounce their citizenship.
The Union minister was replying to Congress lawmaker Abdul Khaleque, who sought details of the number of people who had renounced their Indian citizenship since January 2015.
On passport services, the minister informed that passport services in the country have improved by “500 per cent” ever since the Modi government came to power in 2014.
Responding to a question on whether the ministry discriminates against areas represented by opposition MPs while opening Passport Seva Kendras, Muraleedharan said the Modi government has been offering all help to states ruled by opposition parties or areas represented by opposition MPs.
“I myself have opened a Passport Seva Kendra in Kerala in a constituency represented by a Congress MP,” he said.
Muraleedharan further informed that the number of foreign nationals, except citizens of Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, who had taken Indian citizenship was 93 in 2015, 153 in 2016, 175 in 2017, 129 in 2018, 113 in 2019, 27 in 2020, 42 in 2021 and 60 in 2022.
In a written reponse to a separate question from BJP lawmaker Rahul Kaswan, Muraleedharan said a total of 8,441 Indians are currently in foreign jails, including under-trials. Out of this figure, 4,389 are being held in jails in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman.
(With agency inputs)
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