LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3860
TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.08.2021
MADAD ONLINE
3860. SHRI PRATAP CHANDRA SARANGI:
Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:-
(a) whether the ministry has put up a 'Madad' online portal for the benefit of the stranded Indian community staying abroad;
(b) if so, the details of the nature of assistance sought by the Indian community, country/region-wise and the support extended;
(c) whether there is any plan for expanding the scope of this online portal to make it an interface of constructive engagement of Indian diaspora with the Government of India; and
(d) if so, the details thereof?
ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
[SHRI V. MURALEEDHARAN]
(a) to (d) The Madad Portal is accessible to all Indian nationals abroad in distress, including to those Indian nationals who have been stranded overseas due to various reasons.
Depending on the nature of assistance required, the Indian Mission/Post intervenes promptly such as – liaison with the foreign employer, agent in India in case of employment related issues; provision of assistance in case of need for food and accommodation on request on a means-tested basis, issue of travel documents if required, follow up with concerned local authorities in cases of arrest, seeking consular access in cases of imprisonment, provision of legal assistance on a case to case basis and facilitation of return to India when released by the concerned country. Details of assistance sought for repatriation by stranded Indian community staying abroad country/region-wise is attached at Annexure. 
The Madad Portal is a flagship initiative of the Ministry of External Affairs for comprehensive grievance redressal only and is accessible to all Indians overseas. Expansions have been made to the grievance redressal mechanism since the launch of the portal in February 2015. Multilingual Call Centres, Student Registration, Prisoners Module, Integration with the portal "eMigrate”, Integration with State Governments in India, Module for assistance through Indian Community Welfare Fund, etc. have been added to the scope of the portal.
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