Birth registered in Portugal? CM promises relief

PANAJI: The Centre is considering a proposal to provide relief to citizens who are affected by the Portuguese citizenship issue.
Chief minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday said that a proposal for giving a one-time settlement to those whose birth has been registered in Portugal but who have not obtained a passport, is being considered by the central government. “They have asked us to submit a proposal,” Parrikar said on Wednesday.
The chief minister had taken up the Portuguese citizenship issue with the Union home ministry recently.
Two ruling coalition legislators—BJP Aldona MLA Glenn Ticlo and GVP Benaulim MLA Caetano Silva—some police officers and other politicians have come under the scanner for having registered their birth in Lisbon. The issue pertaining to some of them is in court. tnn
The issue of Portuguese nationality has become a ticklish matter in the state with a few thousand citizens having transcribed their birth records in Lisbon. Demands had often been persistent in some quarters that Ticlo and Silva quit as MLAs.
Many Goans in government service are also in possession of Portuguese passports and some groups have demanded that action be initiated against them, stating that they have ceased to be Indian citizens.
As per the Portuguese Act 2006, any person who registers his birth in Portugal becomes a Portuguese citizen. The Indian Citizenship Act says that the prescribed authority has to determine the nationality or citizenship as per Article 5 of the Constitution. If an Indian citizen becomes a citizen of any other country, he loses Indian citizenship, sources said.