Government highlighted that it has approved proposal for 9 One Stop Centres (OSCs) to support distressed Indian women abroad. Minister of State for Women and Child Development Savitri Thakur in written reply in Lok Sabha on Friday underlined that these include 7 OSCs with shelter homes in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, UAE, and Saudi Arabia (Jeddah and Riyadh), and 2 OSCs without shelter homes in Toronto and Singapore. Ms. Thakur emphasized that the Ministry of External Affairs has now opened a budget line for the aforementioned 9 missions.

She also mentioned that the Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF) has been set up in all Indian missions and posts abroad to meet contingency expenditures incurred by them for carrying out various on-site welfare activities for overseas Indian citizens on a means-tested basis. Ms. Thakur added that the ICWF guidelines were comprehensively revised in September 2017. The revised guidelines have considerably expanded the scope of on-site welfare activities for the benefit of distressed Indian nationals, particularly women, that can be extended through the Fund. It covers three key areas namely Assisting Overseas Indian nationals in distress situations (Boarding and Lodging, Air passage, Legal Assistance, Emergency Medical Care.