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The category of ‘Overseas Citizens of India’ was entered in the Citizenship Act of India through an amendment in the year :

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1986

1992

1996

2003

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This question was previously asked in

UPSC CDS-1 – 2016

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The correct answer is 2003.

The category of ‘Overseas Citizens of India’ (OCI) was introduced in the Citizenship Act, 1955 through the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2003. This was based on the recommendations of the High Level Committee on Indian Diaspora headed by L.M. Singhvi. The OCI scheme initially provided certain benefits to Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) from specific countries, excluding Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Subsequently, the OCI scheme was modified and expanded. In 2015, the government merged the Person of Indian Origin (PIO) card scheme with the OCI scheme through the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2015, creating a single OCI card for eligible individuals of Indian origin and spouses of Indian citizens or OCI cardholders.