Parliament Question: Assistance under Indian Community Welfare Fund

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5681 ANSWERED ON- 27/03/2026 ASSISTANCE UNDER INDIAN COMMUNITY WELFARE FUND 5681. SHRI KUNDURU RAGHUVEER Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:- (a) whether the Government is implementing the Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF) to provide financial and logistical support to Indian citizens facing distress abroad; (b) if so, the total amount allocated and utilized under ICWF during the last five years, country-wise and year-wise; (c) the number of cases in which assistance has been provided under ICWF for repatriation of mortal remains, emergency medical aid, legal assistance, shelter and air tickets for stranded Indians during the said period; (d) whether families from Telangana, particularly Nalgonda district, have approached Indian Missions seeking assistance under ICWF and if so, the details of support extended to them; and 1(e) whether the Government proposes to introduce a single-window digital mechanism to help families in India track the status of assistance and procedures in cases of distress or death of Indian citizens abroad, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS (SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH) (a to e) ICWF, set up in 2009, is aimed at assisting Overseas Indians in times of distress in the most deserving case, on a means-tested basis. Since its inception, more than INR 758 crores have been utilized up to December 2025 for extending assistance to over 3.67 lakh distressed overseas Indians. The ICWF guidelines have been comprehensively revised w.e.f. September 1, 2017. The revised guidelines have considerably expanded the scope of on-site welfare activities for the benefit of distressed Indian nationals that could be extended through the Fund. The guidelines cover three key areas namely: Assisting Overseas Indian nationals in distress situations (Boarding and Lodging, Air passage, Legal Assistance, Emergency Medical Care, Transportation of Mortal Remains), Community welfare activities and improvement in consular services. They 2now also include provisions for setting of legal panels in countries with sizable Indian Diaspora and assistance to distressed Indian women abroad. ICWF is primarily funded by levying service charges on various consular services rendered by Indian Missions and Posts abroad. Hence, ICWF is a self-sustaining fund with no budgetary support from the Government. The fund is administered as per the guidelines approved by the Union Cabinet. District-wise details of ICWF utilization are not available. However, the details of fund utilized from ICWF during the last five years are enclosed at Annexure–A. The number of cases in which assistance has been provided under ICWF during the last five years is enclosed at Annexure–B. The Government accords the highest priority to the safety, protection and well-being of all Indian nationals abroad, with various mechanisms in place to address such issues. It has established such mechanisms to enable Indian nationals abroad to reach out to the Indian Missions in case they need any assistance. Indian nationals can contact the Missions/Posts through various channels like walk-in, email, social media, multilingual 24x7 emergency numbers and also grievance redressal portals like 3MADAD, CPGRAMS, eMigrate etc. In addition, Indian Missions/Posts abroad have established toll-free helplines, Whatsapp numbers and have launched mobile apps to enable Indian nationals contact concerned Indian Missions/Posts when in distress or in emergency situations. Indian Missions and Posts abroad have Consular/Community Welfare Wings with designated Officers to attend to the welfare issues of distressed Indian nationals. The Ministry has a well established mechanism/SoPs to coordinate with all Missions/Posts abroad to provide help to Indian nationals abroad in distress including in cases of deaths, local cremation/burial or transportation of mortal remains to their hometowns in India. The Consular/Community Welfare Officers can be contacted by Indian nationals at any time for advice and assistance. In case of emergency, Missions/Posts can be contacted on 24x7 helpline. Contact details of these officers and helpline numbers are displayed both on the website of the Indian Missions/Posts as well as on the Notice Boards in the Embassy premises. 4Annexure–A The details of total expenditure incurred for the welfare of Indian emigrants in INR Sl. No. Name of 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 Total Mission/Post 1 Abidjan 1028413 0 0 91233.75 0 1119646.75 2 Abu Dhabi 11973625.00 18727017.00 17715847.00 17394676.50 13712701.73 79523867.23 3 Abuja 0.00 8677.00 31398.00 219742.00 436690.00 696507.00 4 Accra 391599.91 2,28,806 115265.00 774756.00 0.00 1281620.91 5 Addis Ababa 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 282791.39 282791.39 6 Algiers 431.49 930.61 1476.06 1900.05 548056.00 552794.21 7 Amman 98693.00 437927.00 148709.00 171876.00 1686996.00 2544201.00 8 EoI, Antananarivo 0.00 0.00 0.00 3568.00 8333.00 11901.00 9 Ashgabat 0.00 0.00 0.00 725888.00 0.00 725888.00 10 Asmara 10127.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 10127.00 11 Astana 0.00 22650.00 31242.97 781878.65 3593563.16 4429334.78 12 Athens 735736.00 1030529.00 1301665.00 10723802.00 5510224.00 19301956.00 13 Atlanta 0.00 878541.00 1658436.00 2851019.73 3697554.00 9085550.73 514 Auckland NA NA NA 0.00 2977241.00 2977241.00 15 Baghdad 244440.00 654101.00 853663.00 84640.00 215986.00 2052830.00 16 Bahrain 3749932.00 2703440.00 3216538.00 4717123.00 3502141.00 17889174.00 17 Baku 564345.00 10465.00 30149.00 100000.00 0.00 704959.00 18 Bali 8529.00 20690.00 1303.00 181281.00 43050.00 254853.00 19 Bamako 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 109488.00 109488.00 20 Bandar Abbas 305.00 3044783.00 299803.00 269179.00 23220.00 3637290.00 21 Bangkok 844418.00 1238960.00 2637911.00 1501419.00 4744457.00 10967165.00 22 Beijing 107528.00 149940.00 9217.00 7708591.00 1090576.00 9065852.00 23 Beirut 866060.00 879394.00 190505.00 4279308.00 1201591.00 7416858.00 24 Belgrade 152800.62 402157.00 862596.84 0.00 970862.86 2388417.32 25 Berlin 1339125.65 3509748.13 5590228.54 4721882.75 9111935.07 24272920.14 26 Berne 264091.00 745249.00 99364.00 1153586.00 829069.00 3091359.00 27 Birgunj 0.00 0.00 157488.00 0.00 0.00 157488.00 28 Birmingham 721433.08 2282364.47 2498473.34 5116894.50 4832036.05 15451201.44 29 Bishkek 79024.00 3455.00 29641.00 3535.60 163067.20 278722.80 30 Bogota 273828.00 212195.00 554988.00 0.00 13770.00 1054781.00 31 Brasilia 890207.71 0.00 129376.01 0.00 0.00 1019583.72 32 Bratislava 0.00 9884914.00 244676.00 420302.00 1782127.00 12332019.00 633 Brisbane NA NA NA 0.00 619836.62 619836.62 34 Brunei 35833.00 0.00 0.00 3019.00 993.00 39845.00 35 Brussels 0.00 0.00 363425.00 394748.00 421906.00 1180079.00 36 EOI BUCHAREST 845233.00 357274.00 882601.00 243929.00 484827.00 2813864.00 37 Budapest 0.00 1464175.44 390967.12 0.00 335400.00 2190542.56 38 Cairo 277967.81 82710.33 862275.19 644465.59 1423434.27 3290853.19 39 Cape Town 0.00 0.00 47424.00 0.00 705636.00 753060.00 40 Caracas 0.00 75300.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 75300.00 41 Chiangmai 0.00 22851.00 54588.00 0.00 659468.00 736907.00 42 Chittagong 8745.00 60435.00 0.00 75602.00 0.00 144782.00 43 Colombo NA NA 92168.00 126488.00 423669.00 642325.00 44 HCI Dar-es-salaam 183091 274036 294915 512941 400041 1665024.00 45 Dhaka 139359.00 2806710.00 451269.00 137738.00 122489.00 3657565.00 46 Djibouti 0.00 0.00 439066.00 74246.00 0.00 513312.00 47 Doha 1838068.18 4860631.30 6477976.55 10720163.15 9466689.20 33363528.38 48 Dubai 40347642.00 55093125.00 46868525.00 53548228.00 30159558.00 226017078.0 0 49 Dublin 0.00 804949.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 804949.00 750 Durban 0.00 0.00 0.00 1086.73 0.00 1086.73 51 Edinburgh 0.00 0.00 381335.00 0.00 21227.00 402562.00 52 Erbil 705958.00 1318593.00 1026703.00 632212.00 896472.00 4579938.00 53 Frankfurt 0.00 35691521.00 310655.00 281625.00 1007413.00 37291214.00 54 Freetown 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 25038.00 25038.00 55 Gaborone 30150.00 153840.00 0.00 56833.00 188668.00 429491.00 56 Geneva 0.00 833674.00 0.00 853692.00 869465.00 2556831.00 57 Georgetown 0.00 1024564.00 55562.00 0.00 58345.00 1138471.00 58 Guangzhou 0.00 0.00 116111.00 1743727.00 1691654.00 3551492.00 59 Guatemala City 0.00 11732.00 137141.00 43850.00 1042961.00 1235684.00 60 Hamburg 372750.00 462718.00 2388591.00 1512932.00 1830505.00 6567496.00 61 Hanoi 0.00 0.00 383141.76 0.00 0.00 383141.76 62 Harare 58451.00 65143.00 1443773.00 442609.00 520178.00 2530154.00 63 Havana 0.00 0.00 19332.00 18270.00 0.00 37602.00 64 Helsinki 561380.00 916045.00 724356.00 261854.00 172898.80 2636533.80 65 Ho Chi Minh City 1054699.20 1204429.00 731179.89 995485.00 1786460.00 5772253.09 66 Houston 0.00 0.00 42010.00 505640.00 437760.00 985410.00 67 Jaffna 464786.00 3566721.00 4457463.00 10109596.00 9903383.00 28501949.00 868 Jakarta 110581.00 38477.00 224143.00 788383.00 NA 1161584.00 69 Jeddah 13391489.00 15685681.00 14274109.00 16761085.00 12229463.00 72341827.00 70 Kabul NA 0.00 0.00 0.00 610941.00 610941.00 71 Kampala 265598.00 611582.00 351364.00 1056500.00 1027856.00 3312900.00 72 KANDY 4522.33 298894.48 65929.69 38651.33 200984.87 608982.70 73 Kigali 0.00 3528.00 84469.00 285561.00 15439.00 388997.00 74 Kinshasa 0.00 0.00 84209.00 2632071.00 9817.00 2726097.00 75 Kuala Lumpur 9494646.10 7347699.22 35926197.58 29122662.42 19080272.91 100971478.2 3 76 Kuwait 37120597.00 24052703.00 7579639.00 6577789.00 6862864.00 82193592.00 77 Kyiv 104754.00 0.00 79200.00 387156.00 63000.00 634110.00 78 Lagos 397855.00 16347.00 0.00 17243.00 531801.00 963246.00 79 Lilongwe 0.00 137235.00 75510.00 156672.00 357263.00 726680.00 80 Lima 0.00 9595.92 9040.71 279304.02 82741.13 380681.78 81 Lisbon 0.00 91920.92 32833.86 694961.40 305415.00 1125131.18 82 Ljubljana 0.00 156873.01 670094.00 623736.21 24945.25 1475648.47 83 Lome 0.00 0.00 4179.00 237394.00 96662.00 338235.00 84 London 1449258.00 14791653.00 3656274.00 2534888.00 2387518.00 24819591.00 85 Lusaka 134762.00 0.00 500391.00 0.00 380506.00 1015659.00 986 Male 252975.00 523205.00 2606073.00 434631.00 1705747.00 5522631.00 87 Manila 108011.00 0.00 113450.00 109830.00 249415.00 580706.00 88 Medan 0.00 340781.01 489084.24 34108.56 2375960.75 3239934.56 89 Melbourne 64773.00 476126.00 24590.00 1072270.00 179214.00 1816973.00 90 Mexico City 442386.00 0.00 689469.00 231914.00 138582.00 1502351.00 91 Milan 22269100.00 1321660.00 1707741.00 988265.00 857859.00 27144625.00 92 Minsk 37565.00 295449.00 638445.00 0.00 402913.00 1374372.00 93 Mombasa 3891.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 66965.00 70856.00 94 Moscow 628673.00 454694.00 355895.00 2719404.00 2853758.00 7012424.00 95 Munich 3123611.00 3387350.00 5169029.00 5652953.00 2500681.00 19833624.00 96 Muscat 22823030.00 25024587.00 38799079.00 19950041.00 13103250.00 119699987.0 0 97 N'Djamena 12073.00 12864.00 24937.00 98 Nairobi 0.00 51991.00 0.00 0.00 38868.00 90859.00 99 New York 1866117.00 10661091.00 6793977.00 14450483.00 8567697.00 42339365.00 100 Nouakchott 0.00 0.00 0.00 13065.00 0.00 13065.00 101 Osaka-Kobe 0.00 789.00 54222.00 93141.00 2623597.00 2771749.00 102 Oslo 212577.02 106719.77 1604745.62 547944.99 37739.41 2509726.81 103 Ottawa 0.00 0.00 0.00 896735.00 0.00 896735.00 10104 Panama 0.00 0.00 300138.75 347186.25 402325.50 1049650.50 105 Paramaribo 12527.00 2085.00 4823.00 5327.00 266512.00 291274.00 106 Phnom Penh 1961062.00 370117.00 777825.00 2476817.00 2941634.00 8527455.00 107 Port Louis 108594.00 195158.00 122058.00 289893.00 283878.00 999581.00 108 Port Moresby 0.00 0.00 12173.00 0.00 92491.00 104664.00 109 Port of Spain 594.00 11117.00 963552.00 492361.00 98058.00 1565682.00 110 Prague 705177.96 3017918.06 1590756.46 1186385.92 791016.60 6104869.08 111 Rabat 87866.10 0.00 0.00 0.00 299396.00 387262.10 112 Riyadh 21359038.00 22502281.00 27490199.00 31491584.00 32538967.00 135382069.0 0 113 Rome 17115285.00 348047.00 1949664.00 2886824.00 191909.00 22491729.00 114 San Francisco 21515639.00 5843885.00 16828295.00 9274132.00 14434978.00 67896929.00 115 Santo Domingo NA 0.00 0.00 0.00 6234.00 6234.00 116 Sao Paulo NIL 442833.00 26425.00 40987.00 82284.00 592529.00 117 EOI Seoul NA 1878308.62 319928.00 1729714.00 504043.96 4431994.58 118 Sofia 24071.00 0.00 0.00 6123.00 305975.00 336169.00 119 St. Denis-Reunion 0.00 0.00 0.00 163700.46 0.00 163700.46 Island 11120 Suva 18956.00 NIL 2100.00 NIL 58830.00 79886.00 121 Sydney 1043721.00 3157342.00 703037.00 1215178.00 827192.00 6946470.00 122 Tashkent 14792.00 635272.70 193952.60 1038187.00 1522095.00 3404299.30 123 Tehran 1695335.00 5927860.00 1099103.00 357219.00 1669884.00 10749401.00 124 Thimphu 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 10000.00 10000.00 125 Tokyo 867184.00 1752883.00 2582399.00 3182537.00 1797100.00 10182103.00 126 Tunis 0.00 0.00 0.00 3782.73 52687.57 56470.30 127 Ulaanbaatar 0.00 0.00 49734.00 40204.00 67898.00 157836.00 128 Valletta 939771.00 173937.00 714120.00 845877.00 1890888.00 4564593.00 129 Vancouver 0.00 838323.00 25300.00 0.00 0.00 863623.00 130 Vienna 206067.18 710422.00 940027.00 2798702.74 1876176.73 6531395.65 131 Vientiane 23121.54 598940.89 203366.73 1866509.20 6444488.20 9136426.56 132 Vilnius 0.00 0.00 2615691.00 2701369.00 2718506.00 8035566.00 133 Warsaw 127096.00 20805787.00 3349812.00 2162707.00 2849099.00 29294501.00 134 Washington 188575.00 877442.00 1160486.00 736396.00 1612039.00 4574938.00 135 Wellington 6036585.00 5621611.00 7757026.00 7181194.00 6311295.00 32907711.00 136 EOI Yangon 551128.03 879281.88 1353889.30 3122371.80 1043937.90 6950608.91 137 EOI Yerevan 0.00 982310.00 1054448.00 2617806.00 2877431.00 7531995.00 138 Zagreb 0.00 453381.00 194185.00 34463.00 492960.00 1174989.00 12139 Zahidan 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 202950.00 202950.00 140 Zanzibar 24310.00 0.00 105025.00 39990.00 405508.00 574833.00 141 Cote d'Ivoire 1028413.00 0.00 0.00 91233.75 0.00 1119646.75 142 Yemen 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 376927.00 376927.00 143 Riga 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 45183.00 45183.00 144 Pakistan 410006.00 1365983.00 916003.00 647148.00 108693.00 3447833.00 13Annexure–B The number of cases in which assistance has been provide under ICWF YEARS 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 HEADINGS No. of No. of No. of No. of No. of Benefici Benefici Benefici Benefici Benefici aries aries aries aries aries Boarding & Lodging 20553 20184 15286 6860 7049 Emergency Medical 1117 1165 280 115 297 Care Air Passage to 2489 2145 1607 1186 1963 Stranded Overseas Indians Legal Assistance 161 387 602 1159 388 Air lifting of Mortal 422 507 433 488 435 Remains Total 24742 24388 18208 9808 10132 ***** 14