Highest priority to provide help to distressed Indians: Sushma Swaraj

NEW DELHI: The NDA government has given highest priority to provide help and assistance to distressed Indians abroad, including those who are defrauded in marriage, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said in Lok Sabha today.

Swaraj said her Ministry has been receiving petitions from Indian women stating that their non-resident Indian spouse has hidden the fact that he is already married or has a partner.

She said such complaints pertain to abandonment of the Indian women either in India or in the foreign country by the NRI spouse after the marriage.

Since the NRI spouse resides outside India, following legal and other constraints are faced while addressing this complex issue, she said.

Swaraj said inspite of all these constrains, the External Affairs Ministry is taking various steps to provide assistance to the aggrieved women.

"Our government has given highest priority to provide help and assistance to distressed Indians abroad, irrespective of their castes, creed and religion," she said in reply to a supplementary related to community-wise break-up of distressed Indians.

The Minister said since the launch of her Ministry's grievance redressal portal 'MADAD' on February 2015, as many as 246 grievances under "marital dispute" category have been received of which 172 have been addressed.

Since January 2016, the External Affairs Ministry has received another 362 petitions by post and email related to NRI marriages of which 344 have been addressed, she said.