Lok Sabha Question No. 340 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-07-21
Subject: Indian Labourers in Foreign Countries
Ministry: EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
Asked by: Sanjay Seth

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

FOR ANSWER ON- 21/07/2023

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-340

## INDIAN LABOURERS IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES

## †340. SHRI SANJAY SETH

Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state :-

(a) whether a large number of Indian labourers are working in foreign countries;

(b) if so, the State-wise total number of labourers currently working in foreign countries;

(c) the details of the facilities provided by the Government to such labourers in case of death or accident;

(d) the number of labourers from Jharkhand who died in foreign countries during the last 3 years; and

(e) the details of the facilities provided to families of such deceased labour?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

## (SHRI V. MURALEEDHARAN)

(a & b) As per available data, there are around 13 million Indian nationals abroad who include labourers, professionals, and experts.

This Ministry maintains the data in respect of Indian workers, holding Emigration Check Required (ECR) passports, proceeding for overseas employment through e-Migrate portal to any of the 18 ECR countries. The State and UT-wise details of the Emigration Clearances granted to such workers migrated for overseas employment in these 18 ECR countries during the last three years are enclosed as Annexure-A .

(c) Whenever an Indian migrant worker dies abroad, the Indian Mission/Post concerned contacts family of the deceased and 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, settlement of end of service benefits and compensation from the employer as well as follow up the cases of death compensation with the local authorities, courts and insurance agencies.

The   cases   of   accidental   deaths   of   Indian   citizens   are   investigated   by   the   local   police authorities/enforcement   agencies   of   the   host   country.   Our   Missions/Posts   abroad   liaise   with respective foreign Government to facilitate post-mortem or re-investigation, in cases where the families of deceased request for the same.

Our Mission/Posts abroad also utilise the Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF) to provide necessary assistance, including legal, on means tested basis to Indian citizens abroad and their dependents in times of distress including in the process of transportation of mortal remains to India or local cremation with the consent of the family and settlement of death claims.

In addition, the Pravasi Bharatiya Bima Yojana (PBBY) is a mandatory insurance scheme aimed at safeguarding the interests of ECR category Indian emigrant workers going for 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.

(d & e) As per the records available with the Ministry, the number of labourers from Jharkhand, who migrated to ECR countries, and died during the last 3 years are as below:

| Name of the country        |   Number of labourers died from Jharkhand |
|----------------------------|-------------------------------------------|
| Saudi Arabia               |                                        38 |
| Oman                       |                                        21 |
| Malaysia                   |                                         7 |
| United Arab Emirates (UAE) |                                         9 |
| Kuwait                     |                                        10 |
| Qatar                      |                                         6 |

The respective Indian Missions/Posts had provided the necessary assistance/facilities, as elaborated at point (c) above, to the next of the kin of the deceased.

*****

## Indian workers migrated to 18 ECR coutries (As per data available on e-Migrate portal)

## ANNEXURE -A

| States               |   2020 |   2021 |   2022 |   Up to June 2023 |   Total |
|----------------------|--------|--------|--------|-------------------|---------|
| UTTAR PRADESH        |  28911 |  35221 | 123702 |             70181 |  258015 |
| BIHAR                |  13911 |  24526 |  60945 |             32343 |  131725 |
| WEST BENGAL          |   7425 |   9917 |  31789 |             15713 |   64844 |
| RAJASTHAN            |   6126 |  11345 |  28819 |             12249 |   58539 |
| TAMIL NADU           |   6476 |   8830 |  23556 |             13545 |   52407 |
| KERALA               |   8487 |  10560 |  16253 |              8416 |   43716 |
| ANDHRA PRADESH       |   3882 |   5482 |  19347 |              6604 |   35315 |
| PUNJAB               |   3317 |   5983 |  10654 |              5260 |   25214 |
| TELANGANA            |   2984 |   4375 |  11990 |              5136 |   24485 |
| ODISHA               |   2199 |   4179 |   6726 |              2857 |   15961 |
| MAHARASHTRA          |   2592 |   2828 |   6846 |              3633 |   15899 |
| KARNATAKA            |   1476 |   2143 |   5700 |              2956 |   12275 |
| JAMMU&KASHMIR        |   1095 |    992 |   4868 |              2888 |    9843 |
| JHARKHAND            |    831 |   1481 |   4322 |              2070 |    8704 |
| GUJARAT              |   1494 |   1583 |   3438 |              1705 |    8220 |
| UTTARAKHAND          |    821 |    864 |   3627 |              1905 |    7217 |
| ASSAM                |    566 |    395 |   3594 |              1787 |    6342 |
| DELHI                |    388 |    508 |   1569 |               790 |    3255 |
| HARYANA              |    314 |    459 |   1232 |               718 |    2723 |
| MADHYAPRADESH        |    220 |    232 |   1369 |               707 |    2528 |
| TRIPURA              |    248 |    145 |   1197 |               734 |    2324 |
| GOA                  |    105 |    262 |    622 |               218 |    1207 |
| ANDAMAN &NICOBAR     |      2 |      0 |     11 |               939 |     952 |
| HIMACHAL PRADESH     |    115 |    145 |    414 |               231 |     905 |
| PUDUCHERRY           |     75 |    123 |    318 |               174 |     690 |
| CHANDIGARH           |     30 |     45 |    346 |               157 |     578 |
| CHHATTISGARH         |     33 |     24 |    126 |                58 |     241 |
| DAMAN&DIU            |     11 |      9 |     16 |                13 |      49 |
| MANIPUR              |      4 |      9 |     13 |                10 |      36 |
| MEGHALAYA            |      3 |      3 |     11 |                 8 |      25 |
| DADRA & NAGAR HAVELI |      2 |      0 |      3 |                 4 |       9 |
| NAGALAND             |      1 |      4 |      2 |                 2 |       9 |
| SIKKIM               |      1 |      0 |      4 |                 1 |       6 |
| ARUNACHAL PRADESH    |      0 |      1 |      3 |                 1 |       5 |
| LAKSHADWEEP          |      0 |      0 |      2 |                 1 |       3 |
| MIZORAM              |      0 |      0 |      0 |                 2 |       2 |
| LADAKH               |      0 |      0 |      0 |                 1 |       1 |

## *****