Lok Sabha Question No. 99 (STARRED), answered on 2021-12-03
Subject: Death of Indians Abroad
Ministry: EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
Asked by: Vijay Baghel, Sunil Kumar Soni

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION No. 99 TO BE ANSWERED ON 03.12.2021

## DEATH OF INDIANS ABROAD

## † *99.     SHRI VIJAY BAGHEL:

## SHRI SUNIL KUMAR SONI:

Will the Minister of External Affairs be pleased to state:

- (a) the details and the number of Indians employed abroad who died in accidents during the last three years, year-wise and country-wise;
- (b) the details of the pending cases in which the family of deceased person has not received proper compensation or justice, countrywise; and
- (c) whether a Committee is being constituted for disposal of such cases and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS (DR. SUBRAHMANYAM JAISHANKAR)

## (a) to (c) A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

***

STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (A) to (C) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *99 REGARDING 'DEATH OF INDIANS ABROAD' TO BE ANSWERED ON 03.12.2021.

- (a) During  the   past   three   years,   2384   Indian   nationals   died   due   to accidents in 63 countries.   Highest numbers were reported from Saudi Arabia 683, UAE 370, Nepal 227, Kuwait 195, Philippines 153, Oman 94,   Malaysia   76,   Qatar   60   and   Singapore   55.     Detailed information of Indian employed abroad who died in accidents during the last three years, year-wise and country-wise is at annexure I.
- (b) As per data available, 468 pending cases of death compensation are registered   with   Indian   Missions/Posts,   country-wise   details   is   at annexure-II.
- (c) The CPV Division in the Ministry of External Affairs is the nodal Division and has a well-established mechanism/SOPs to coordinate with   concerned   Missions/Posts   abroad   to   provide   help   to   Indian national abroad in distress including in cases of accidental deaths and transportation of mortal remains to India. The Government attaches the highest priority to the safety, security and well-being of Indians abroad.

Salient features of consular assistance provided by our Missions/Posts to families of Indian nationals who died abroad including in cases of accidental deaths are as follows:

- (i) Registration of death in the Mission/Post abroad:   There exists a single window clearance in all Indian Missions/Posts for such cases. As soon as the Embassy comes to know of such unfortunate death of an   Indian   citizen,   the   Consular   Wing   of   the   Missions/   Posts immediately gets in touch with the family/relative of the deceased Indian   national   as   well   as   the   local   authorities   to   facilitate   the completion of necessary formalities in coordination with the local police   authorities   and   transportation   of   mortal   remains   in accordance with the wishes of the family of the deceased at the earliest possible.
- (ii) Transportation of mortal remains: Indian Missions/ Posts liaise with different   authorities   in   the   foreign   country   and   concerned   state authorities, for
- Medical report / death certificate issued from the hospital concerned;

- Police report (with English translation, if report is in some other language), in case of accidental or unnatural death;
- Consent letter from next of kin of the deceased for local cremation / burial / transportation of mortal remains;
- Clearance and arrangements for embalming of mortal remains from the authorities concerned in the foreign country;
- Clearance from local immigration/ customs department.
- Clearance from Indian customs authorities.

These procedures differ from country to country; therefore there is no fixed time frame for transportation.

- (iii) Help in death compensation cases:   Our Missions/Posts assist the family members of deceased in filing cases of death compensation and to fulfill required documentation formalities in such cases. These include   documents   required   for   pursuing   the   case   of   death compensation in courts in foreign countries on behalf of the legal heirs of the deceased, in cases accidental deaths or traffic accident or murder, after receiving police report.
- a. Legal Heirship Certificate (LHC):  This should be obtained from the competent authorities of respective state governments in India.
- b. Power of Attorney (POA): Power of Attorney should be executed in favour of any of relative/friend/representative or any other person who can  attend   the   court   proceedings   on   behalf   of   legal   heirs. Missions/Posts   also   provide   assistance   in   preparation   of   such documents.
- iv. Steps   taken   by   Ministry   of   External  Affairs   for   awareness   and preventive measures:
- a. Departing   workers   are   made   aware   of   their   rights   and responsibilities   through   the   Pre-Departure   Orientation   Training (PDOT) and local language based Media Awareness Campaign.
- b. The on-line MADAD portal enables emigrant workers and their family members to register their consular grievances on-line and track their redressal.

3

- c. Grievances can also be lodged by emigrants/relatives through the Pravasi Bharatiya Sahayata Kendra (PBSK) on e-Migrate portal. These grievances are settled by respective Protectors of Emigrants (PoEs), as per laid down procedures.
- d. A multi-lingual 24X7 Helpline of Pravasi Bharatiya Sahayata Kendra (PBSK) in New Delhi provides information, guidance and grievance redressal   on   all   issues   and   problems   pertaining   to   overseas employment   of   Indian   nationals.   Pravasi   Bharatiya   Sahayata Kendras (PBSK) have also been set up at Dubai (UAE), Riyadh, Jeddah (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia). Kshetriya Pravasi Sahayata Kendras (KPSK) have been setup in Kochi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Lucknow and Delhi.
- e. Indian Missions/Posts conduct Open Houses on a regular basis where Indian community members/ workers can seek redressal of their grievances.
- f. Grievances   brought   to   the   notice   of   the   Ministry   and   the Missions/Posts through social media, including Twitter, are promptly addressed.
- g. The   Missions/Posts   utilise   the   Indian   Community   Welfare   Fund (ICWF) to provide assistance to overseas Indian nationals in times of distress.
- h. Labour and Manpower Cooperation MoUs/Agreements are in place with the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries where a large number   of Indian workers reside and work. These Agreements/MoUs provide the institutional framework to comprehensively discuss and review labour related issues through Joint Working Group (JWG) meetings.

***

4

## Annexure-I to Lok Sabha Starred Question No.99

Country wise and Year wise data in r/o Indians employed abroad who died in accidents during the last three years

|   Sl. No. | Country              |   2019 |   2020 |   2021 |
|-----------|----------------------|--------|--------|--------|
|         1 | Angola               |      2 |      1 |      0 |
|         2 | United Arab Emirates |    158 |    126 |     86 |
|         3 | Armenia              |      2 |      6 |      5 |
|         4 | Australia            |      7 |      7 |      7 |
|         5 | Azerbaijan           |      3 |      0 |      0 |
|         6 | Bangladesh           |      0 |      1 |      0 |
|         7 | Bahrain              |     13 |     18 |     13 |
|         8 | Tanzania             |      0 |      1 |      0 |
|         9 | Bhutan               |      4 |      1 |     23 |
|        10 | Botswana             |      0 |      1 |      1 |
|        11 | Canada               |     12 |     11 |     18 |
|        12 | China                |      4 |      0 |      1 |
|        13 | Côte d'Ivoire        |      2 |      1 |      1 |
|        14 | Congo                |      1 |      5 |      0 |
|        15 | Cuba                 |      0 |      1 |      0 |
|        16 | Cyprus               |      1 |      0 |      2 |
|        17 | Germany              |      0 |      0 |      1 |
|        18 | Spain                |      0 |      0 |      2 |
|        19 | Ethiopia             |      3 |      0 |      2 |
|        20 | Ghana                |      0 |      0 |      3 |
|        21 | Croatia              |      0 |      0 |      1 |
|        22 | Indonesia            |      1 |      2 |      2 |
|        23 | Republic of Ireland  |      1 |      0 |      0 |
|        24 | Iran                 |      5 |      5 |      3 |
|        25 | Iraq                 |      1 |      2 |      2 |

|   26. | Israel       |   1 |   0 |   0 |
|-------|--------------|-----|-----|-----|
|    27 | Italy        |  13 |   9 |  18 |
|    28 | Jordan       |   1 |   0 |   3 |
|    29 | Kenya        |   1 |   1 |   2 |
|    30 | Kyrgyzstan   |   1 |   7 |   3 |
|    31 | South Korea  |   0 |   0 |   1 |
|    32 | Kuwait       |  75 |  64 |  56 |
|    33 | Lebanon      |   1 |   0 |   1 |
|    34 | Sri Lanka    |   3 |   4 |   3 |
|    35 | Mexico       |   1 |   0 |   2 |
|    36 | Mali         |   2 |   6 |   6 |
|    37 | Myanmar      |   1 |   0 |   0 |
|    38 | Mozambique   |   5 |   1 |   0 |
|    39 | Malawi       |   2 |   0 |   0 |
|    40 | Malaysia     |  51 |  25 |   0 |
|    41 | Nigeria      |   0 |   0 |   5 |
|    42 | Nepal        | 100 |  63 |  65 |
|    43 | New Zealand  |  11 |   4 |   9 |
|    44 | Oman         |  57 |  37 |   0 |
|    45 | Philippines  |  58 |  51 |  44 |
|    46 | Poland       |   1 |   3 |   0 |
|    47 | Portugal     |   5 |   3 |   2 |
|    48 | Qatar        |  23 |  37 |   0 |
|    49 | Romania      |   0 |   0 |   1 |
|    50 | Saudi Arabia | 393 | 290 |   0 |
|    51 | Sudan        |  21 |   0 |   1 |
|    52 | South Sudan  |   0 |   0 |   1 |
|    53 | Senegal      |   0 |   0 |   1 |
|    54 | Singapore    |  22 |  16 |  17 |

| 55.   | Syria               |    0 |   0 |   1 |
|-------|---------------------|------|-----|-----|
| 56.   | Thailand            |    0 |   1 |   1 |
| 57.   | Trinidad and Tobago |    0 |   0 |   2 |
| 58.   | Uganda              |    0 |   3 |   2 |
| 59.   | USA                 |   22 |  17 |  17 |
| 60.   | Uzbekistan          |    1 |   0 |   0 |
| 61.   | Vietnam             |    1 |   0 |   1 |
| 62.   | South Africa        |    5 |   6 |   8 |
| 63.   | Malta               |    2 |   1 |   0 |
|       |                     | 1100 | 838 | 446 |

Total = 2384

## Annexure-II to Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 99

Country wise details of the pending cases in which the family of deceased person has not received proper compensation or justice (Lok Sabha Starred question No *99)

| Sl No.   | Mission/Post   |   Pending cases |
|----------|----------------|-----------------|
| 1        | Angola         |               1 |
| 2        | UAE            |              24 |
| 3        | Ethiopia       |               1 |
| 4        | South Korea    |               1 |
| 5        | Kuwait         |             142 |
| 6        | Lebanon        |               1 |
| 7        | Oman           |             127 |
| 8        | Qatar          |              41 |
| 9        | Saudi Arabia   |              85 |
| 10       | Sudan          |              20 |
| 11       | Singapore      |              23 |
| 12       | Yemen          |               1 |
| 13       | South Africa   |               1 |
|          | Total          |             468 |

***