The Ministry of Overseas Affairs and the National Commission for Women (NCW) aren’t doing enough to help women deserted by NRI husbands, a parliamentary standing committee has found. In its draft report on NRI marriages, the standing committee on external affairs has come down heavily on the ministry and the NCW for shoddy and insufficient work to help out these women.
This is the first time such marriages are being looked into by the parliamentary standing committee.The committee has recommended that registration of NRI marriages be made mandatory. The panel also wants the government to double the expense account for legal help abroad from $ 1,500 (Rs. 84,000) to be raised to $3000 (Rs. 1.7 lakh).
The committee in its report, which is in its final stages, wants the Centre to set up fast track courts to dispose of such cases and maintain a cyber database for serial offenders. The panel also wants that with the registration of a complaint or FIR, emigration departments should immediately alerted so that NRI husbands cannot leave India.
The committee also expressed its shock at the fact that the Vayalar Raviheaded ministry has not implemented most of the recommendations of the inter- ministerial committee on NRI marriages, which submitted its report in 2008.
“The committee urges the ministry to take up each recommendation of the panel seriously and follow it up with the state governments too,” the report says. The ministry is the nodal agency and the NCW is the main coordinating agency for overseas Indians. The panel said there is no coordination between them.
The committee was also anguished to find that the NCW doesn’t have demarcated staff for the NRI cell and neither does it have a separate budget and funds to help victims of NRI marriages. The panel added that since its inception, 594 complaints have been received, of which only 30 have been closed. The committee noted that it shows the casual approach of the government to handle such cases and the intended help didn’t reach the victims. The committee in its report also advised the ministry to hold regular meeting with the NCW. The panel also found that the rehabilitation of women is still not a part of even the revised scheme of the ministry. The report also says that Indian missions abroad should play a more pro- active role by helping the victims. The panel felt that the advisory role of the Indian missions abroad wasn’t sufficient and called their approach callous.Parliamentary panel raps overseas affairs ministry & NCW for ‘shoddy and insufficient’ work.
This is the first time such marriages are being looked into by the parliamentary standing committee.The committee has recommended that registration of NRI marriages be made mandatory. The panel also wants the government to double the expense account for legal help abroad from $ 1,500 (Rs. 84,000) to be raised to $3000 (Rs. 1.7 lakh).
The committee in its report, which is in its final stages, wants the Centre to set up fast track courts to dispose of such cases and maintain a cyber database for serial offenders. The panel also wants that with the registration of a complaint or FIR, emigration departments should immediately alerted so that NRI husbands cannot leave India.
The committee also expressed its shock at the fact that the Vayalar Raviheaded ministry has not implemented most of the recommendations of the inter- ministerial committee on NRI marriages, which submitted its report in 2008.
“The committee urges the ministry to take up each recommendation of the panel seriously and follow it up with the state governments too,” the report says. The ministry is the nodal agency and the NCW is the main coordinating agency for overseas Indians. The panel said there is no coordination between them.
The committee was also anguished to find that the NCW doesn’t have demarcated staff for the NRI cell and neither does it have a separate budget and funds to help victims of NRI marriages. The panel added that since its inception, 594 complaints have been received, of which only 30 have been closed. The committee noted that it shows the casual approach of the government to handle such cases and the intended help didn’t reach the victims. The committee in its report also advised the ministry to hold regular meeting with the NCW. The panel also found that the rehabilitation of women is still not a part of even the revised scheme of the ministry. The report also says that Indian missions abroad should play a more pro- active role by helping the victims. The panel felt that the advisory role of the Indian missions abroad wasn’t sufficient and called their approach callous.Parliamentary panel raps overseas affairs ministry & NCW for ‘shoddy and insufficient’ work.
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