File Photo of Union minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju.
Central government will soon notify an authority in Goa to decide the contentious issue of dual citizenship concerning scores of Goans, Union minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said on Friday.
"It is unfortunate that many people were the victims of the provisions of our country as well as Portugal and faced problems," he told reporters.
A large number of Goans, especially those born before 1961, are facing legal hurdles given that their birth was registered under the Portuguese rule in the coastal state, according them the status of Portuguese nationals.
However, a few months after the liberation of Goa, the then Central government through a notification under the Citizenship Act 1955 automatically accorded Indian citizenship to every person who or either of whose parents or any of whose grandparents was born before Dec 20, 1961, in Goa, Daman and Diu, which were also Portuguese colonies.
In a bid to resolve the simmering row over the dual nationality, the Union government recently formed a committee to study this issue.
"Now that our committee's report is final, very soon the citizenship and its status related matter will be resolved in Goa as per the requirement of local people and they need not run around to Delhi," Mr Rijiju said.
"The Central government will soon notify the authority to decide the issues of dual citizenship. The authority will be set up soon and it will handle issues related to it (dual citizenship)," he added.