During his recent visit (JAn 17) to India CB Patel - publisher/editor of Asian Voice - presented the problem of British Gujarati community to Chief Minister of Gujarat, regarding RS 500 and 1,000 currency note, in possession of Gujarati people. Let us wait for some good news!
NRI means Non Resident Indians - in other workds Indian passport holders residing abroad - be clear. There is no mention of British passport holders of Indian origin, residing in the UK.
Although, many such British passport holders have OCI cards, they are not regarded as Indian citizens. I know a few friends who hold OCI cards and have tried to exchange their currency notes in India but were refused!
Indian passport holders have to go to RBI by travelling 200-300 miles to exchange their notes!
It is British passport holders who assumed in good aith, that they are also NRI. They travel long distance over 200-300 miles in cold and rain to great Ministers and VIPs coming from India.
It is British passport holders who contribute substantially to Indian economy by depositing crores of rupees in Indian Banks. It is again British passport holders who donate generously to Indian charitable institutions and it is the same British passport holders who have to bed for changing few thousand rupees notes! This gives an opportunity to rethink their national status.
However, any government or bank is under obligation to honour the payment because on the currency note it is clearly mentioned that “I promise to pay the bearer a sum of Rupees ...”
This is like an unconditional Promissory note to pay on demand. It is the right of the note holder. Now, it is upto the note holder how to claim this right - by begging, by demanding or by challenging.
Ballubhai Patel
Bradford
