(Image source from: NDTV.com)

In the past three years, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has addressed 4,189 complaints of distressed Indian women abandoned by their non-resident Indian husbands, the Rajya Sabha was told Thursday.

In 2016, a total of 1,510 such complaints were addressed, while in 2017 as many as 1,498 complaints were addressed and earlier this year, till November 30, 1,181 complaints were addressed, Minister of State for the External Affairs Ministry V K Singh said in reply to a question.

Singh said the government has adopted a "multi-pronged approach to give respite to the wives deserted by their NRI husbands".

"The Ministry of External Affairs provides counseling, guidance, and information about legal procedures, mechanisms for serving a judicial summons on the overseas Indian husband; filing a judicial case in India, issuing Look out circulars; impounding and revocation of Indian passport of the husband to such aggrieved women," he said.

The Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF) Guidelines were revised in September 2017 with an intent to provide financial and legal assistance to distressed women married to NRI spouses by all Indian Missions and Posts abroad, he added.

The amount of legal and financial assistance to distressed Indian women has also been increased to USD 4,000 per case, he said in a written response.

"The assistance is released to the impanelled legal counsel of the applicant or Indian Community Association or Women's Organization or an NGO concerned to enable them to take necessary and appropriate steps to assist the woman in documentation and preparatory work for filing the case," he said.

-Sowmya Sangam