Dual citizenship of people of Goa to be resolved soon: Government

NEW DELHI: The dual-citizenship issue that has been haunting thousands of people of Goa for sometime now may be resolved "very soon" with the Centre today saying that the matter would be sorted out without further ado.

"We are looking at the case very closely and the matter would be resolved soon. It will not take much time," Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju said in Rajya Sabha.

The dual citizenship issue cropped up through a private memebrs' bill.

Speaking on The Citizenship (Amendement) Bill, 2014, Shantaram Naik (Cong) said unless appropriate action was taken at a fast pace, "thousands" of Goan people would ceased to be citizens of India. Naik had introduced the Bill last year.

A person who or whose parents or garndparents born before December 20, 1961, in the then Union Territories of Goa, Daman and Diu, is deemed to have become citizens of India on that day, except where such a person had made a declaration within one month in writing that he had chosen to retain the earlier citizenship. Goa is a erstwhile Portugese colony.

These people were mostly duped by agents who got their names registered in the Portuguese birth registry, even as they did not have seen Portugal in their life-time, Naik said.

Rijiju said India does not allow dual citizenship, but in case a citizen faces troubles on issues like this, it is the duty of the government to check that his status is ensured.