Providing a ray of hope to thousands of women deserted by the husbands abroad, the government on Monday floated a scheme for providing financial assistance to them for getting legal help through the Indian missions.
The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs proposes to introduce the scheme to start with in US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain -- the places from where such cases are mostly reported.
The assistance will be provided to Indian women who are victims of fraudulent marriages and deserted by their overseas Indian husbands or are facing divorce proceedings in a foreign country, the ministry, in a statement, said.
The concerned Indian missions will involve credible Indian women's organisations and NGOs working in these countries and give them financial assistance to the tune of $1,000 per case, it said, adding that the organisations will provide documentation and initial support for legal proceedings and counseling for the deserted women.
The objective of the scheme is to provide advisory and legal services to women of Indian origin in distress as a welfare measure, the ministry said.
Legal services would be provided by a panel of advocates through credible Indian associations and women's organisations, it added.
The scheme will cover Indian women deserted in India or overseas and divorce proceedings initiated by the overseas Indian husband within two years of marriage, the ministry said.
Legal aid will also be provided in the cases of an ex parte decree of divorce, or annulment of the marriage obtained by the overseas Indian husband and a case of maintenance or alimony is required to be filed. The scheme will be circulated among Indian community associations by the missions concerned for information and publicity and sent to women's groups and NGOs inviting them to apply for empanelment under the scheme for providing legal services.
The women's organisations or NGOs will enlist advocates to extend further legal assistance in the court. The applications for legal aid received by the missions and authorising the missions to take up their case legally will be examined and approved by the mission.
The applications received in the ministry in New Delhi from women seeking assistance will be examined by a committee in the ministry. Based on the scrutiny and approval of the ministry, the cases will be recommended to the missions for giving assistance to women in distress.