Lok Sabha Question No. 189 (STARRED), answered on 2022-07-29
Subject: Death of Indian Citizens Abroad
Ministry: EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
Asked by: Keshari Devi Patel, Vijay Baghel

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.189 TO BE ANSWERED ON 29.07.2022

## DEATH OF INDIAN CITIZENS ABROAD

## † *189. SHRIMATI KESHARI DEVI PATEL: SHRI VIJAY BAGHEL:

Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) the   number   of   Indian   citizens   who   go   abroad   for   private   jobs, State/UT-wise including Uttar Pradesh;
- (b) the number of Indian citizens who went abroad for private jobs and died at the workplace during the last three years;
- (c) whether   the   Government   has   investigated   or   proposes   to investigate such cases;
- (d) if so, the details thereof along with the grievances registered by the Indian citizens during the said period along with number of cases resolved and pending;
- (e)     whether the Government provides financial assistance and other facilities to the dependents of such citizens; and
- (f)     if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS [DR. SUBRAHMANYAM JAISHANKAR]

- (a) to (f) A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) to (f) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *189 REGARDING 'DEATH OF INDIAN CITIZENS ABROAD' TO BE ANSWERED ON 29.07.2022

The   Ministry   of   External   Affairs   maintains   the   data   in   respect   of Emigration Check Required (ECR) passport holding Indian workers, emigrating through legal channel (e-Migrate portal) to any of the 18 ECR countries for overseas employment. State and UT-wise Emigration Clearances granted to such workers during the last three years is enclosed at Annexure-A.

Cases   of   accidental   deaths   of   Indian   citizens   are   investigated   by respective police authorities and enforcement agencies of concerned foreign country. In cases where the families of deceased request for post-mortem or reinvestigation,   our   Missions/Posts   abroad   liaise   with   concerned   foreign Government to facilitate the same.  As per the information available with the Ministry,   out   of   2570   death   related   grievances   registered,   2478   have   been resolved. The Government has taken several steps including online mechanism including a multi-lingual 24X7 helpline to facilitate grievance redressal.

Whenever   an   Indian   migrant   worker   dies   abroad,   concerned   Indian Mission/Post provides immediate necessary assistance such as completion of the   procedures   related   to   death   registration,   local   cremation/burial   or transportation   of   the   mortal   remains   to   India,   investigation,   securing   and settlement of end of service benefits and compensation from the employer and follow up on cases of death compensation with the local authorities, courts and insurance agencies, whenever required.

The  Indian   Mission/Posts   abroad   also   utilise   the   Indian   Community Welfare Fund (ICWF) to provide assistance to overseas Indian citizens and their dependents in times of distress including in the process of settlement of death cases and transportation of mortal remains to India. In addition, the Pravasi Bharatiya Bima Yojana (PBBY) launched in 2003 and further revised in 2017 to expand the scope of insurance coverage, is a mandatory insurance scheme aimed at safeguarding the interests of Indian emigrant workers falling under ECR category going for overseas employment to ECR countries. The scheme provides an insurance cover of INR 10 lakh and other benefits in case of accidental   death   or   permanent   disability   leading   to   job   loss   at   a   nominal insurance premium of INR 275/- for two years or INR 375/- for three years validity.

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The number of Indian citizens who went abroad  for   private   jobs,   State/UT-wise including Uttar Pradesh (data of Emigration Clearance issued for ECR countries)

| SNo   | STATE               |   2020 |   2021 |   2022 (Upto 30 th June) |   Total |
|-------|---------------------|--------|--------|--------------------------|---------|
| 1     | UTTAR PRADESH       |  28911 |  35221 |                    67240 |  131372 |
| 2     | BIHAR               |  13911 |  24526 |                    31081 |   69518 |
| 3     | WEST BENGAL         |   7425 |   9917 |                    15288 |   32630 |
| 4     | RAJASTHAN           |   6126 |  11345 |                    13733 |   31204 |
| 5     | TAMILNADU           |   6476 |   8830 |                    10709 |   26015 |
| 6     | KERALA              |   8487 |  10560 |                     6255 |   25302 |
| 7     | ANDHRAPRADESH       |   3882 |   5482 |                     8911 |   18275 |
| 8     | PUNJAB              |   3317 |   5983 |                     4955 |   14255 |
| 9     | TELANGANA           |   2984 |   4375 |                     6042 |   13401 |
| 10    | ODISHA              |   2199 |   4179 |                     3181 |    9559 |
| 11    | MAHARASHTRA         |   2592 |   2828 |                     3444 |    8864 |
| 12    | KARNATAKA           |   1476 |   2143 |                     2866 |    6485 |
| 13    | JAMMU &KASHMIR      |   1095 |    992 |                     2717 |    4804 |
| 14    | GUJARAT             |   1494 |   1583 |                     1715 |    4792 |
| 15    | JHARKHAND           |    831 |   1481 |                     1936 |    4248 |
| 16    | UTTARAKHAND         |    821 |    864 |                     1818 |    3503 |
| 17    | ASSAM               |    566 |    395 |                     1886 |    2847 |
| 18    | DELHI               |    388 |    508 |                      788 |    1684 |
| 19    | HARYANA             |    314 |    459 |                      576 |    1349 |
| 20    | MADHYAPRADESH       |    220 |    232 |                      604 |    1056 |
| 21    | TRIPURA             |    248 |    145 |                      472 |     865 |
| 22    | GOA                 |    105 |    262 |                      321 |     688 |
| 23    | HIMACHALPRADESH     |    115 |    145 |                      214 |     474 |
| 24    | PUDUCHERRY          |     75 |    123 |                      168 |     366 |
| 25    | CHANDIGARH          |     30 |     45 |                      197 |     272 |
| 26    | CHHATTISGARH        |     33 |     24 |                       62 |     119 |
| 27    | DAMAN &DIU          |     11 |      0 |                        6 |      17 |
| 28    | MANIPUR             |      4 |      9 |                        4 |      17 |
| 29    | MEGHALAYA           |      3 |      3 |                        5 |      11 |
| 30    | ANDAMAN &NICOBAR    |      2 |      0 |                        5 |       7 |
| 31    | NAGALAND            |      1 |      4 |                        1 |       6 |
| 32    | ARUNACHALPRADESH    |      0 |      1 |                        2 |       3 |
| 33    | SIKKIM              |      1 |      0 |                        2 |       3 |
| 34    | DADRA& NAGAR HAVELI |      2 |      0 |                        0 |       2 |
| 35    | LAKSHADWEEP         |      0 |      0 |                        2 |       2 |
| 36    | LADAKH              |      0 |      0 |                        0 |       0 |
| 37    | MIZORAM             |      0 |      0 |                        0 |       0 |
| Total | Total               |  94145 | 132673 |                   189206 |  416024 |

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