LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-121
ANSWERED ON- 02/02/2024
REGISTERED INDIAN CITIZENS
121. SHRI RAMALINGAM S.
Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state :-
(a) whether the Government has registered Indian Origin Tamils as Indian Citizens in terms of Indo-Ceylon pacts 1964-1974 at Sri Lanka; and
(b) if so, the details thereof?
ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
(SHRI V. MURALEEDHARAN)
(a & b) As per the Sirimavo-Shastri agreement of 1964, India would grant citizenship for 525,000 persons while Sri Lanka would accept 3,00,000 Indian Origin Tamils (IOTs) in the ratio of 7:4 and the status of remaining 1,50,000 persons was to be considered later. Later in the Sirimavo-Indira Gandhi Agreement of 1974, the remaining IOTs were to be accepted as citizens of India and Sri Lanka in the ratio of 1:1 along with natural increase in their numbers.
IOTs of Sri Lanka were registered as Citizens of India under the provisions of section 5(1)(b) of the Citizenship Act, 1955 and passports were issued to them. As per the information available, a total number of 4,61,639 Tamils have been repatriated to India from Sri Lanka under the two agreements of 1964 & 1974 up to the year 2006.
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