New Delhi, Feb 10 (IANS): Indians in Oman whose passports were destroyed in Cyclone 'Shaheen' will not have to pay any fee for replacements, the Ministry of External Affairs Ministry announced on Wednesday.

This exemption will be applicable for three months.

"In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 22 of the Passports Act, 1967 (15 of 1967), the Central Government, being of the opinion that it is necessary and expedient in the public interest so to do, hereby exempts the passport holders, whose passports got damaged or lost due to tropical cyclone "Shaheen" accompanied by heavy rains in Sultanate of Oman in October 2021, from payment of passport fee specified under section 5 of the said Act, read with rule 8 of the Passports Rules, 1980,", and official notification said.

There are few conditions such as the exemption in payment of passport fee shall be applicable only to such passport holders whose passports have been damaged or lost due to the tropical cyclone "Shaheen" in Sultanate of Oman in October, 2021, duplicate passport shall be issued to all the applicants desirous of availing such exemption with same particulars as in their previous passport and for remaining period of validity, and such exemption shall remain in force for a period of three months from the date of publication of this notification, it read.

"Shaheen" hit the Gulf monarchy in October 2021, disrupting daily life in coastal areas as well as muscat, which houses thousands of Indians.

There are about 624,000 Indians in Oman of which about 483,901 are workers and professionals. There are Indian families living in Oman for more than 150-200 years. Total 2,911 Indian origin people have Omani citizenship (408 males/2,503 females) as on July 2020. There are 21 Indian schools offering CBSE curriculum, catering to the educational needs of approximately 42,000 Indian students, as per the MEA.