(a) the number of cases which have been brought to the notice of the Ministry/Government concerning the issues of Indians living abroad, particularly from the Gulf countries during the last three years and the current year;
(b) whether there is any committee or body in the Ministry which regularly reviews the problems being faced by the Indians living abroad;
(c) if so, the details thereof and;
(d) if not, the reasons therefor?
THE MINISTER OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
[DR. SUBRAHMANYAM JAISHANKAR]
(a) to (d) A statement is laid on the Table of the House.
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STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (A) to (D) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *445 REGARDING “PROBLEMS FACED BY INDIAN LIVING ABROAD” FOR ANSWER ON 24.07.2019.
Government of India attaches high priority to addressing and resolving the issues and grievances of Indian nationals living abroad. Issues and grievances can be brought to the notice of the Government through any means both in India as well as at the Indian Missions and Posts abroad.
Cases concerning issues of Indians living abroad brought to the attention of the Government are systematically registered and monitored on the MADAD portal which was inaugurated in February 2015 with a view to ensuring their disposal in a time-bound, transparent and accountable manner. Tracking and monitoring through MADAD has significantly strengthened the mechanism for addressing and resolving the grievances of all overseas Indians.
Since February 2015 till July 18, 2019, a total of 50,605 grievances have been registered on MADAD out of which 44,360 grievances have been successfully resolved, thus making the resolution rate of grievances registered on MADAD nearly 90%. Out of these, 36,805 grievances pertained to Indians living in the countries of the Gulf region. Year-wise and country-wise details of grievances registered on the MADAD portal are given in Annexure.
The grievances registered on MADAD are tracked on a real time basis and reviewed regularly. The platform itself is designed to escalate the grievances to higher levels in case not responded to on time. A special MADAD unit has been created in the Ministry of External Affairs whose task is to monitor the progress of cases on MADAD and ensure their timely redressal. Pending cases on MADAD are reviewed on a regular basis both in the Missions and Posts abroad as well as in the Ministry and efforts made to resolve them.
Apart from review of cases registered on MADAD, relevant issues flagged by our Missions and Posts are taken up from time to time including through inter-Ministerial discussions as appropriate.
To address issues pertaining to Indian Students abroad, an Expert Group, having officials from stakeholder Ministries and government bodies (Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Medical Council of India) and including representatives of select Embassies based in New Delhi has been established. Two meetings of the Expert Group, on March 13, 2018 and August 9, 2018 respectively, have been organized till now.
Similarly, an Integrated Nodal Agency (INA) has been set up under Ministry of Women & Child Development which is functioning as a single window mechanism to find timely solutions to the problems of Indian women married to overseas Indian spouses.
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