December 19, 2009 8:55 AM

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Govt to revamp visa regime

The Government is streamlining visa and immigration procedures to attract more tourists from abroad. The Home Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram said while addressing a meeting of the Consultative Committee attached to his Ministry in New Delhi that the number of about five million visitors every year is too small and a large country like India should have at least 50 million visitors. He said visa regime will be revamped through the use of information and communication technology. A project estimated to cost about 20 crore rupees will be implemented from next month for the purpose. <br/><br/>A Visa on Arrival Scheme will be implemented for Singapore, Japan, New Zealand, Luxembourg and Finland for one year on experimental basis. The Home Minister said that a Mission Mode Project on Immigration, Visa and Foreigners Registration and Tracking, estimated to cost. 1011 crore rupees will be taken up to develop and implement a secure and integrated service delivery framework for facilitating legitimate travellers and strengthening security. The project will be implemented over a period of 4 and a half years beginning April next year.<br/><br/>On foreign contribution by associations, the Home Minister said that out of about 34,000 registered associations, only about 18,000 have submitted the annual audited. He said that while the Government wants to encourage foreign contribution for genuine purposes, it will have to be ensured that the money received is not misused.<br/>

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