Indian Government has informed the Parliament that its missions in 13 countries are offering assistance to Indian women abroad who have been abused and abandoned by their overseas Indian husbands.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is implementing a scheme to provide financial assistance to Indian women abused or abandoned by their overseas Indian spouses, so that they can get access to counselling and legal services, with Indian missions and posts abroad.
The scheme is currently operational in thirteen countries which are the United States America (USA), United Kingdom (UK), Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman and United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the Gulf.
Consular Services Management System (MADAD) is an online portal developed by Ministry of External Affairs to register grievances pertaining to the Consular Services offered by the Indian mission and posts abroad. The portal could be utilised to enlist assistance while facing grievances related to marital dispute and other related problems.
This information was given by Minister of State for Women and Child Development Krishna Raj in reply to a question in Lok Sabha in the ongoing Monsoon Session of the Parliament.
Explaining the steps taken in this direction while liberalising the passport rules, the Government in another reply told the House that married applicants would not be required to provide the erstwhile Annexure K or any marriage certificate while applying for a passport.
The passport application form does not require the applicant to provide the name of her or his spouse in case of separated or divorced persons. Such applicants for passports would not be required to provide even the divorce decree.
In case of children not born out of wedlock, the applicant for the passport of such children should submit only extant Annexure C while submitting the passport application.
In case of issue of passport to in-country domestically adopted children, submission of the registered adoption deed would no longer be required. In the absence of any deed to this effect, the passport applicant may give a declaration on a plain paper confirming the adoption.
Government servants, who are not able to obtain the Identity Certificate (extant Annexure-A) or No-Objection Certificate (extant Annexure-G) from their concerned employer and intend to get the passport on urgent basis can now get the passport by submitting a self-declaration in extant Annexure-H that he or she has given prior Intimation Letter to his/her employer informing that he or she was applying for an ordinary passport to a Passport Issuing Authority.
Orphaned children who do not have any proof of DOB such as Birth Certificate or the Matriculation Certificate or the declaratory Court order, may now submit a declaration given by the Head of the Orphanage/Child Care Home on their official letter head of the organization confirming the DOB of the applicant, This information was given by General Dr VK Singh, the Minister of State for External Affairs informed the House.
