Govt drops condition on duplicate passports for Indians abroad

Till now, only those Indians who lost their documents in the first three years of their stay abroad were issued duplicate passports. Prime Minister I K Gujral has now announced that the condition will be relaxed.

Gujral, replying to a letter from Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet, said the condition was put in because many reports of lost documents were false, made to obliterate evidence of the exact date of entry into the foreign country. That "was no longer a major factor,'' the prime minister said, adding that the case of those Indians ''who continue living abroad under political asylum perhaps needs to be examined more carefully.''

Gujral said the government was also considering a 10-year multiple entry visa for those Indians who had acquired the nationality of the country of their residence.