Petitioner Shamsheer Vayalil welcomes cabinet nod to proxy voting for NRIs

Kochi: Shamsheer Vayalil, who filed a petition in the Supreme Court demanding voting rights for the NRIs, on Friday welcomed the Union government's decision to clear a proposal to allow proxy voting to overseas Indians.

"Now, the government will have to bring a bill to amend the law to make it a reality. I hope that the government will introduce a bill in this regard in the next session or the Monsoon Session of the parliament. The government can make it a reality within three months, if it has the will power," said Vayalil, founder and MD, VPS Healthcare.

He said that majority of the NRIs are from Kerala, Punjab and Gujarat and "the government's decision will make a huge impact in the elections in these states".

"As per records, there are over 1.6 crore NRIs. The move will benefit around 60 lakh of them, who are enrolled in the voter list, as well as the remaining one crore who are yet to enroll," said Vayalil, who took up the issue after he missed his voting rights 15 years ago.

He also added that politicians were indifferent towards the issues faced by NRIs as they were unable to cast their votes.