Parliament Question: National Crisis Management Protocol for Overseas Indians

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 489 ANSWERED ON 27/03/2026 NATIONAL CRISIS MANAGEMENT PROTOCOL FOR OVERSEAS INDIANS †*489. SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO SHRI KHAGEN MURMU Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:- (a) the details of the comprehensive lessons from the Vande Bharat Mission and Operation Ganga integrated into the new National Crisis Management Protocol for overseas Indians; (b) the number of Indian nationals safely evacuated under Operation Ajay, Operation Kaveri and Operation Indravati since 2023; (c) the status of the “MEA in Aid of Diaspora in Distress” (MADAD) and eMigrate portals in providing real-time grievance redressal for Indian migrant workers in West Asian countries; and 1(d) whether the Government has established a dedicated "Rapid Response Cell" to monitor geopolitical instabilities affecting the Indian diaspora, if so, the details thereof? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS (SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH) (a) to (d) A Statement is laid on the Table of the House. ***** 2STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (d) OF STARRED QUESTION NO. *489 BY SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO AND SHRI KHAGEN MURMU ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 27.03.2026 REGARDING NATIONAL CRISIS MANAGEMENT PROTOCOL FOR OVERSEAS INDIANS (a to d) The Government closely monitors emerging adverse situations abroad and issues advisories, as required, to caution Indian nationals to avoid unnecessary travel, follow safety guidelines issued by local authorities and remain in touch with Indian Missions. Various communication mechanisms are in place for Indian nationals to reach Indian Missions/Posts, including email, multilingual 24x7 emergency numbers, social media, toll-free helplines & WhatsApp numbers. Several of these protocols were implemented during the implementation of the Vande Bharat Mission and Operation Ganga. The Ministry is also developing a digital emergency response solution for stranded Indian nationals to register with basic and real-time information to facilitate planning for their evacuation or movement during a crisis. 3Government evacuated 5287 Indian nationals under Operation Ajay, Operation Kaveri and Operation Indravati. Operation-wise data of evacuated Indian nationals is attached at Annexure-I. To address the consular issues related to repatriation, employment disputes, detention, transportation of mortal remains, marital disputes, imprisonment cases, student issues and other distress situation faced by the overseas Indians, Government launched a centralized digital platform ‘MADAD’ in February 2015. Since then, the portal has emerged as a key instrument for extending assistance and addressing the concerns of overseas Indians on a real-time basis by allowing them to register and track grievances. All Indian Missions/Posts abroad and the MEA’s Branch Secretariats in Chennai, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai are integrated with the portal, which is regularly monitored at various levels. The portal has received over 1 lakh grievances from February 2015 to February 2026 and resolved approximately 97% of them. Similarly, Ministry’s eMigrate portal, primarily for processing and monitoring the emigration of ECR passport category Indian workers to ECR countries for employment purposes, also facilitates 4registration of grievances/complaints of Indian workers. As soon as any grievance relating to the welfare of Indian workers, including request for repatriation and evacuation, etc., is registered on eMigrate portal, the same is immediately transferred to the MADAD portal of the Mission/Post concerned for real-time redressal. In case of emergency situation requiring verification of any emigrant worker who went abroad after obtaining Emigration Clearance (EC) through eMigrate, the same is addressed through eMigrate Portal. With a view to swiftly responding to crisis situations faced by overseas Indian nationals, the Ministry established a dedicated wing named the ‘Rapid Response Cell (RRC)’ in 2021. RRC undertakes Ministry’s evacuation and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations abroad. The wing coordinates with all agencies, services and Ministries, following a whole-of- government approach and enabling seamless inter-Ministerial coordination for operational integration and successful planning and execution of evacuation operations. ***** 5Annexure-I Operation wise data of the evacuated Indian nationals Total number of people Year Country & Name of the evacuated (including foreign Operation nationals) Sudan 4,097 2023 (including 136 foreign Operation Kaveri nationals) Israel 1,343 (including 14 OCI card 2023 Operation Ajay holders and 20 foreign nationals) Haiti 17 2024 Operation Indravati ***** 6