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Indian Help Centres in Gulf
by Ruchi Gupta

    New Delhi: Keen to introduce appropriate safeguards for Indians living abroad, the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs said on Saturday that it is actively considering a proposal to establish Overseas Indian Centres in the Gulf region and in countries heavily populated by Indians such as the United States, Europe, Africa and in the South East Asia. Disclosing this while presiding over the day-long National Consultation on Marriages to Overseas Indians, here today, Union Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi said these centres would be tasked with the responsibility of extending legal, medical and social counseling to those who face the problem of fake, fraudulent or failed marriages. The centres would also operate helplines to respond to women who are facing difficulties in their marriages, Ravi added. He said that his Ministry fully recognized the urgent need to build safeguards to protect unsuspecting brides, and their parents seeking marriage alliances and is working on a strategy to make such alliance seekers aware of their rights and responsibilities stabilizing safety nets and catalyze social support systems to assist them. Describing the National Consultation as the first step in this direction, Ravi said that his Ministry is seeking active partnership with the States and Non-Government Organizations to launch a series of measures to address this very real problem of failed or fraudulent marriages to Overseas Indians.

    Apart from Overseas Indian Centres, the Government is also considering constituting a Gender Cell in the Ministry to build gender sensitivity into policy matters and activities of the Ministry in relation to Overseas Indians and establishing a Gender Advisory Group comprising of the representatives of all stakeholders to advise the Ministry from time to time on gender issues of the Diaspora, Ravi said. Underlining that similar proactive steps will be necessary from other stakeholders too, Ravi advised the State Governments to establish independent Gender Cells to deal with issues related to marriages to overseas Indians and to extend the required assistance. These Cells can also act in a coordinated manner with the proposed Overseas Centres, he added. Welcoming the Supreme Courts recent decision of compulsory registration of all marriages, Ravi said that all the sections of the society, down to the grassroots level will have to be actively involved in making the people aware in this regard.

   Earlier, inaugurating the event, the Chairperson of the National Commission for Women, Girija Vyas, said that keeping in view a number of complainants visiting her office and over 40 to 50 overseas calls per week received from such harassed women and their parents it is necessary to generate awareness and to establish adequate helplines to come to rescue of the needy women. She said that a number of undesirable developments and practices relating to marriages between Indian women and NRIS have come to the notice of the Commission. These include dowry and non consummation of marriages, marriages of convenience, concealment of earlier existing marriage by the husband and lack of social security faced by an Indian woman on the foreign soil once the marriage is broken for no fault of hers etc. "The most conspicuous disturbing trend, however, appears to be the easy dissolution of such marriages by the foreign courts even though their solemnization took place in India as per the Indian laws," she added. She said that the Commission has a report on NRI Marriage problems and has worked out a draft convention on Jurisdiction, Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Matrimonial Matters. Vyas also suggested that the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs should consider the possibility of keeping a data base of marital status of Indian Diaspora not only on the basis of their declared status but also for verifying from various Associations of Overseas Indians in other countries and any other informal means considered necessary. She also underlined the need for active participation of Indian missions abroad, setting up of Counseling Centres at the Indian Embassies.
-Feb 18, 2006

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