Persons of Indian origin, PIO cardholders will from now get lifelong visa.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi made this announcement at Madison Square Garden event in the New York yesterday. Citing difficulties being faced by people with PIO cards, Mr Modi said, now those PIOs who are living in India for longer, will not have to go to police station.

Prime Minister also announced that Overseas Citizens of India, OCI and PIO schemes will be merged into one scheme in a few months’ time.

He said American tourists can travel to India without any difficulty as India is shortly going to start electronic authorization and visa on arrival facility. During his extempore address in Hindi to the vibrant Indian-American Community, he talked about Cleaning of Ganga, Sanitation, Skill Development, Make in India and Development.

Talking about Mahatma Gandhi, Prime Minister said that Mahatma gave them freedom and in turn they should pledge to give Mahatma Gandhi a clean India on his 150th birth anniversary in 2019. He also said that January 2015 will be the century celebration of Mahatma Gandhi’s return to India. He called upon the Indian American community to make development as mass movement. He also stressed the need of good governance for the progress of the country.

Mr Modi said he is trying to eliminate unnecessary laws to make the process simple. Citing the young Indian population of 800 million below 35-years of age as the strength of India, he said Indians can be the workforce for the world.

Mr Modi said cleaning of Ganga is necessary not only for the sake of faith but also for environment conservation and economy of the country as 40 per cent of the population of the country depends on the Ganga for their livelihood.