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This country to provide legal and financial assistance to workers

The Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF) has been decided to provide more financial assistance to blue-collared workers and those in distress said Indian Ambassador to the UAE Navdeep Singh Suri.

The revised ICWF guidelines will be in effect on September 1 and from there onwards, the embassy will be able to provide legal assistance to those in distress.

The ambassador noted such facility will help those who have been laid off and fighting for pending salaries and compensation.

The beneficiaries of legal assistance also includes those who have committed minor crimes, offences or have been falsely implicated by their employer and put in jails; fishermen, seamen, sailors, students in distress; and Indian women abandoned/cheated/abused by their NRI/PIO or foreign spouses (up to seven years after their marriage).

The rates for the same are revised. Now, rates for visa and OCI cards are $3, passport $2, attestation of employment documents $2 and attestation of other documents and other miscellaneous consular services, other than in death cases at $2.

Also, subsistence allowance for distressed nationals has been raised to a maximum of 60 days.

Other facilities include providing one-way air ticket to deserving stranded Indians, on a means tested basis, providing two-way air fare to a doctor/an attendant to accompany the primary beneficiary in case of any disability, on the recommendation of the hospital.

The fund will also cover expenditure incurred on:

– Incidentals and airlifting of mortal remains of deceased nationals to India or for local cremation, where the employer is unable or unwilling to do so and the family is unable to meet the cost, for transportation of mortal remains to India

– Payment of small fines for illegal stay where prima facie the worker is not at fault, payment of penalties in respect of Indian nationals in jails/detention centres for minor offences/crimes (to enable their repatriation)

– Providing emergency medical care to deserving overseas Indians, on a means tested basis, who are involved in an accident (with serious life-threatening injuries), have life-threatening medical conditions or suffer a serious disability if the employer/sponsor is unwilling to meet the expenses and the family is unable to meet the cost.

The upper limit of medical assistance has been fixed as $5,000 per case.

The fund can also be utilised for community activities and for improving consular activities.

Consular service rates revised as

– The ambassador pointed out that ICWF isn’t a grant from the Indian government but is sourced from the service charges collected for various consular services.

– The rate for the services, which was Dh6, has also been revised. From now, rates for visa and OCI cards will be $3 (Dh11), passport $2 (Dh8), attestation of employment documents $2 (Dh8) and attestation of other documents and other miscellaneous consular services, other than in death cases at $2 (Dh8).

– The ambassador said, on an average “Rs5 crore (Rs50 million) comes into the kitty” annually through service charges – the amount that is used for the welfare of workers and those in distress.

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