New Delhi: The Empowered Committee of the Ministry of Women and Child Development has approved the Ministry of External Affairs’ proposals for nine One Stop Centres (OSCs) for Indian women facing distress abroad. These centres include seven OSCS with shelter homes in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, UAE, and Saudi Arabia (Jeddah & Riyadh) and two OSCs without shelter homes in Toronto and Singapore.
The Ministry of External Affairs has now opened a Budget line for the aforesaid 9 Missions, the Minister of State for Women and Child Development Savitri Thakur told Lok Sabha in reply to a question today.
The Minister further informed the House that the Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF) has been set up in all Indian Missions and Posts abroad to meet the contingency expenditure incurred by them for carrying out various on-site welfare activities for Overseas Indian citizens on a means-tested basis.
Thakur pointed out that the ICWF guidelines had been comprehensively revised, effective September 1, 2017. “The revised guidelines have considerably expanded the scope of on-site welfare activities for the benefit of distressed Indian nationals particularly women that could be extended through the Fund,” she said.
The ICWF guidelines cover three key areas –
- Assisting Overseas Indian nationals in distress situations (Boarding and Lodging, Air passage, Legal Assistance, Emergency Medical Care, Transportation of Mortal Remains);
- Community Welfare activities;
- Improvement in Consular services.
These guidelines now also include provisions for setting up legal panels in countries with sizeable Indian diaspora, payment of fines/penalties for petty crimes for release of prisoners and assistance to distressed Indian women abroad.
Assistance under the Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF) is also provided to needy Indian women in distress, deserted by their overseas Indian or foreign husbands, to secure counselling and legal services.
– global bihari bureau
