Steps to be taken to help people quickly contact Indian embassies

The Kerala Assembly Committee on the Welfare of Non-Resident Keralites will take measures to help ordinary people quickly contact Indian embassies, committee members have said.

The committee, chaired by Parakkal Abdulla, MLA, held a sitting in Kozhikode on Tuesday (October 6) to discuss various issues faced by expatriates in the district, benefits due to them from the government and complaints related to welfare pensions.

MLAs K.M. Abhijith, Pazhakulam Madhu, Mohammed Muhsin, M. Vincent, and Xavier Chittilappilly attended the meeting.

The committee members said steps would be taken to enable people to contact Indian embassies more easily and promptly.

District Collector M.S. Madhavikutty informed the committee that steps would be taken to expedite applications related to Aadhaar cards, voter identity cards, and other documents for expatriates who return home for short periods on vacation.

Representatives of various expatriate organisations raised issues relating to the non-payment and delay in disbursal of welfare fund pensions and the delay in processing applications for membership of the Kerala Pravasi Welfare Fund.

They also sought an increase in the ₹50,000 medical assistance currently provided under the NoRKA Roots Santhwana scheme and demanded that medical assistance and financial assistance to the families of deceased expatriates be sanctioned without delay.

The representatives also demanded that the upper age limit for membership of the Kerala Pravasi Welfare Fund be raised to 70 years, and that financial assistance be provided to returning expatriates to start businesses.

The committee reviewed various schemes being implemented in the district through the Department of Non-Resident Keralites Affairs, Local Self-Government department, Kerala Pravasi Welfare Board, and NoRKA Roots.