The Minister of
State in the Ministry of External affairs Gen. (Dr.) V. K. Singh (Retd.)
provided this information in reply to question in Lok Sabha today The
names and contact details of all officers in our Missions and Posts abroad are
available on the websites of our Missions. These websites also provide an emergency
contact number in respect of each Mission/Post, through which they can be
contacted in the event of any emergency faced by an Indian citizen abroad.
These numbers are also available on the website of the Ministry of External
Affairs (A copy of the list downloaded from the website is enclosed). Most of
our Missions also maintain duty rosters according to which a staff member is
deployed for emergency duty on weekends or on closed holidays.
Any grievance or
complaint brought to the attention of the Ministry through social media is duly
attended to. However, there is no data available regarding such instances of
complaints and redressal.
In pursuance of
“good governance” initiatives, the Ministry of External Affairs has launched an
online Consular Grievances Monitoring System, named MADAD, on 21st
February 2015, to extend a helping hand to Indians abroad requiring consular
assistance. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the Ministry of Overseas
Indian Affairs (MOIA) work together to address complaints received through
MADAD. All our Missions and Posts abroad and the MEA’s Branch Secretariats in
Chennai, Guwahati, Hyderabad and Kolkata, have been linked to this portal for
consular grievance tracking and follow-up.
The
MADAD online portal represents a qualitative improvement over existing
procedures for handling of consular grievances, through online forwarding,
filing, tracking and escalation until their eventual resolution. It allows
direct registration of the grievances by the members of the public and
effective tracking of the entire grievance handling process all the way until
the redressal of the grievance.
Click here for Indian
Missions/ Posts Emergency Telephone Number for grievances PDF file enclosed
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YSK/Uma