Policy Update
Vanshika Khanna
Background
The Indian diaspora comprises the world’s largest overseas population, offering both strategic opportunities and challenges for India. Indian nationals act as cultural ambassadors and political lobbyists, while at the same time, their integration, welfare, and identity pose governance dilemmas. In light of this, the Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF) was set up in 2009 by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) ( later merged with the Ministry of External Affairs in 2016) to assist Overseas Indian nationals in times of distress and emergency.
The ICWF guidelines were revised in September 2017 to expand the scope of welfare activities and provide greater administrative control over Indian missions and posts abroad.
Key Objectives of the Fund:
- To provide boarding, lodging and emergency medical care for distressed Overseas Indian workers
- To provide legal assistance on a means-tested basis to deserving overseas Indian nationals who have committed minor crimes, offences or have been falsely implicated by their employers.
- Airlifting the mortal remains to India and providing expenditure on the incidentals of deceased Indian nationals.
- To support the emergency evacuation of Indian nationals from conflict zones, countries affected by natural disasters and other challenging situations
- To support community welfare activities
- To assist Indian Missions and Posts abroad
Functioning
The ICWF does not receive support from the Union budget and is a self-sustaining fund. The fund is generated through a service charge levied on consular, passport and visa services rendered by Indian Missions and Posts abroad.
Criteria for allocating funds to beneficiaries:
- The beneficiaries of the funds only include Indian citizens residing in the host country or those in distress while visiting a foreign country. Persons of Indian Origin and Overseas Citizens of India Card Holders are not eligible for financial assistance.
- The beneficiaries are allocated funds on a ‘means-tested basis’, provided the officer approving ICWF expenditure has satisfied himself that the beneficiary deserves to be assisted.
- Primarily, only Indian National(s) who have entered the host country legally shall be eligible to receive benefits under this Fund. In cases where it is not so, assistance may be provided after the Head of Mission/Head of Post has recorded his satisfaction to the effect that the circumstances of the case necessitate assisting ICWF.
Performance
Over 28,000 Overseas Indians benefited from the policy between 2009 and 2013, which spent more than ₹37 crore. According to official data, ICWF has been of critical support in the emergency evacuation of Indian nationals in conflict zones in Libya, Iraq, Yemen, South Sudan and other challenging situations, like assistance extended to undocumented Indian workers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the Nitaqat drive in 2013 and the ongoing Amnesty drive in 2017.
The Indian Community Welfare Fund under the Ministry of External Affairs holds a balance of Rs 704.56 crore as of March 31. The graph below highlights the expenditure administered by the ministry over the last five years.
( Source of data: Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in a response to Right To Information (RTI) query)
The data shows a steep decline from a fund utilisation of 137.25 crores in 2020 to 62.47 crores in 2024.
Impact
The renewed guidelines in 2016 aimed to create a sense of confidence among the migrant workers going overseas about the support they can expect from India during critical times. While this has been true to some extent, the recent data on MEA’s official website contrasts this reality. According to the official data from 2022 to 2024, the total number of beneficiaries decreased significantly from 24,421 in 2022 to 9,878 in 2024, raising concerns over the stagnant usage of funds.
In the last five years, a total of 1,617 complaints were received from NRI women who have allegedly been abandoned by their spouses abroad. To overcome this challenge, the government approved the establishment of nine One-Stop Centres (OSCs) to assist women facing distress in foreign countries. Under this initiative, seven shelter homes are to be set up in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia (with centres in both Jeddah and Riyadh). The remaining two centres, located in Toronto and Singapore, will operate without shelter home facilities.
This initiative has been put into place in collaboration with the Ministry of Women and Child Development, and it aims to further recognise the unique challenges faced by Indian women abroad, including provisions for legal assistance and counselling for women abandoned by their overseas Indian or foreign spouses.
Emerging Issues
- A key emerging issue at present is the lack of transparency. The Ministry of External Affairs has been called out time and again for its lack of disclosure of the utilisation of funds.
- Another hurdle in its implementation is the complex guidelines for beneficiaries. The allocation of funds on a ‘means-tested basis’ often makes it impossible for deserving beneficiaries to access funds.
- One-stop Centres, which are announced by the government, are set to be inaugurated by the end of 2025. However, at present it only covers GCC countries, Saudi Arabia, Toronto and Singapore, whereas geographies densely populated by Indians across the EU, the US and the African Union remain excluded.
Way Forward
The Welfare fund has been successful in assisting citizens abroad in times of emergency and distress, especially providing relief to 1556 cases of medical emergencies and airlifting the mortal remains of 1428 individuals in the last three years. The funds were of utmost importance during the COVID-19 pandemic, which facilitated the return of Indian citizens to India under the Vande Bharat Missions.
Moving forward, a push towards simplifying the guidelines to assist a greater number of deserving overseas Indians is necessary. The current scenario also necessitates calls for enhanced transparency and accountability in the MEA’s management of the fund, while at the same time expanding efforts being undertaken for women’s empowerment within the scheme.
References
- Indian Community Welfare Fund. (n.d.). https://www.pib.gov.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=92819
- MEA | Indian Community Welfare Fund. (n.d.). Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. https://www.mea.gov.in/icwf.htm
- PTI, & PTI. (2025, March 27). 1,617 complaints received from NRI women allegedly abandoned by spouses abroad in 5 years: Govt. Deccan Herald. https://www.deccanherald.com/india/rsq-mea-nri-women-3466081#google_vignette
- Welcome to Embassy of India, Tehran, Iran. (n.d.). https://indianembassytehran.gov.in/eoithr_listview/MzYz
- Saseendran, S. (2025, August 14). Indian expat in distress? MEA’s NRI welfare fund has Dh300m surplus that may help you. Gulf News. https://gulfnews.com/uae/indian-expat-in-distress-meas-nri-welfare-fund-has-dh300m-surplus-that-may-help-you-1.500232642
- Doordarshan News. (2024, November 29). Government approves global one-stop centres for Indian women in distress. DD News. https:/news.gov.in/en/government-approves-global-one-stop-centres-for-indian-women-in-distress/
About the Author: Vanshika Khanna is a Research Intern at IMPRI, having completed a Bachelor of Arts (Research) in International Relations from Shiv Nadar University, Delhi.
Acknowledgement: The author sincerely thanks the team at IMPRI and fellow interns for their valuable contributions and feedback.
Disclaimer:
All views expressed in the article belong solely to the author and not necessarily to the organization.
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