Comments on the Overseas Mobility (Facilitation and Welfare) Bill, 2025

The intention of this draft legislation to establish a robust and transparent framework for preparing and assisting citizens of India in various stages of mobility and ensuring their welfare abroad, is appreciated wholeheartedly. However, the framework falls short of creating the robust framework that could ensure welfare of Indians abroad. Through this submission, we highlight some pertinent issues relating to the draft bill that require urgent attention and intervention:

1) Diminished role of states in the Bill
While responding to Lok Sabha MP E T Muhammad Basheer’s question on 16 July 2019 (Unstarred question 3736), the Government of India stated that the proposed Emigration Bill involves active participation by State Governments ensuring greater transparency, necessary coordination and higher efficiency amongst all stakeholders. However, the role of State Governments in this current version of the bill is limited to clause 19(d) that talks about coordination with state governments to effectively address the issue of irregular emigration and human trafficking. States should mandatorily be part of the Overseas Mobility and Welfare Council with representation from top states that send emigrants overseas. At least five state governments should be represented in this forum at any given time, allocated on a rotation basis.

2) Students not included in the purview of the legislation
A previous version of the bill (Draft Emigration Bill, 2019) had extensively featured students in the bill under the purview of the law and has also dedicated a separate chapter titled “Emigration of Indian Nationals and Students”. In a stark departure from that approach, the current version of the bill includes only migration for the purpose of employment. Clause 2 (g) of the bill defines “emigrant” as a citizen of India, not below the age of eighteen years, who intends to emigrate or has emigrated for with regard to overseas employment. This hampers the prospects of Indian students who regularly go abroad to pursue their dreams. According to statistics shared by the US Consulate-General Hyderabad, nearly half of the 3.30 lakh Indian international students, who went to the US for higher studies during 2023-24, were from the two Telugu States of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. This is a significant number of people leaving the state on an annual basis who deserve a welfare and rights framework, especially under the statutory framework proposed in this Bill.

3) Expanding the scope of legislation to include students, family and dependents

The bill in its current form applies to Indian citizens aged 18 and above residing outside India, primarily for employment purposes. We believe that the safety and welfare measures envisaged under this legislation should be made available to all Indian citizens residing outside without considering their age or purpose of migration. This would mean that other significant Indian diaspora members including students, dependents and family members would be eligible for the welfare and protection outlined in this Act. Necessary amendments should be made in all provisions including clause 1 to make the Act applicable to all Indian citizens residing outside India. The words “promoting welfare of Indian citizens living abroad” used in sub-clause (j) of clause 4 should serve as the benchmark for the legislation, extending the application of the act to all Indian citizens living abroad.

4) Expanding the scope of workers to include semi-skilled, care and gig workers

The current definition of “work” in clause 2 (v) of the Bill does not explicitly state semi-skilled or care workers or gig workers. These sectors are emerging and contributing to a large share of migrants especially from the state of Telangana where health professionals and care workers are preferring overseas destinations for their career. Gig workers are a significant part of the platform economy that is shaping the future of work through online intermediaries. A large share of students tend to work for gig platforms exposing them to a number of challenges. There is an urgent need to explicitly state these three categories of work along with the works listed in clause 2(v).

5) Insufficient non-deterrent penalties
The Bill currently imposes a penalty of at least ₹5 lakh and up to ₹20 lakh on Overseas Placement Agencies for each violation. Repeat offenders within three years may face double the penalty or cancellation of accreditation, or both. However, this is clearly insufficient in cases where the life or safety of an Indian worker is put at risk abroad. There should be stricter measures, including much higher fines, imprisonment for responsible stakeholders, and mandatory compensation for the affected worker/s to ensure accountability and protection.

6) Mandatory Pre-Departure Orientation and Training (PDOT)
The Bill currently provides only provisions for information and training through Mobility Resource Centers and officers, but lacks a mandatory, standardized pre-departure orientation. Global best practices recommended by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and International Labour Organization (ILO) require compulsory training on rights, contracts, safety and country-specific conditions. Strengthening the Bill to mandate structured pre-departure orientation is essential to ensure migrant preparedness, reduce exploitation and align India with international norms. We could also explore post arrival support facilities at major receiving countries, similar to the support provided by the Philippines.

7) Dedicated Emergency fund for death, medical emergencies, and repatriation
Telangana is the first state to announce ex-gratia for the death of workers abroad. The state government introduced this welfare scheme offering ₹5 lakh ex-gratia to families of Telangana workers who die, from any cause, in any of the seven Gulf countries. The compensation is provided to the spouse, children, or parents of the deceased, in that order of priority. We recommend creating a fund dedicated to support cases on emergencies like death, medical emergencies and repatriation where Indian missions are involved. Pravasi Bbaratiya Bima Yojana (PBBY) covers only accident deaths. It should be made available in cases of death irrespective of cause of death.

8) Need to have mult-stakeholder representation in Overseas Mobility and Welfare Council
The Overseas Mobility and Welfare Council has the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Secretary as the Chairperson and up to ten members, including Joint Secretaries from Skill Development and Labour. The power to decide eligibility criteria and experience of other seven members has been delegated to the executive. We recommend that the Act should clearly outline the criteria for non ex-officio members ensuring multi-stakeholder representation from the following:
a) Representation from at least 5 state governments, especially with high overseas migration numbers

b) Representation from migrant workers unions
c) Representation from diaspora organizations
d) Also ensuring one third of the Council members are women

9) Additional functions for Overseas Mobility and Welfare Council
We propose to add two essential functions for the council. The Council should be mandated to raise awareness of legal aid, insurance and welfare funds, addressing the current low visibility of rights and schemes. It should also conduct and publish an annual migration statistics report to ensure reliable data, improve transparency and support evidence-based policymaking across the migration ecosystem.

10) Inconsistency in the eligibility of Chairperson of the Council
There is an inconsistency between clause 3 (2) (a) and clause 32 (2) (b) of the Bill. Clause 3 (2) (a) explicitly designates a Secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs, as the ex-officio Chairperson, leaving no scope for prescribing qualifications.

However, clause 32 (2) (b) allows rules to empower the Central Government to prescribe rules pertaining to the eligibility, qualification and experience of the Chairperson. This cannot be possible when the Chairperson is an ex-officio position.

11) Need measures to transfer social security and insurance support
As rightly highlighted during the consultation by most stakeholders, an Indian emigrant’s social security and insurance in India becomes irrelevant when they shift overseas. There should be flexibility in allowing cross border coverage for these welfare measures. Similarly, an Indian worker who spends years working in the USA would be contributing a share of his salary towards the social security coverage. However, the person is in no position to avail this amount if they choose to return to India. This should clearly be a priority point of discussions, especially when India negotiates bilateral agreements with other nations.

12) Dedicated chapter on rights of the overseas migrants
We collectively believe that the law should have a separate chapter focusing on the rights of overseas Indians covered under the ambit of this Act. We have drafted a ‘charter of rights’ guaranteeing overseas Indians the following rights aligning it with international best practices and core International Labour Organization (ILO) standards.

a) Safe and lawful migration
b) Fair and decent work
c) Protection from exploitation
d) Support from Indian Missions
e) Grievance redressal
f) Financial security
g) Dignified return
h) Dignified return of mortal remains
i) Data privacy; and
j) Special safeguards for vulnerable groups including SC, ST, OBCs.

13) Dedicated chapter on Grievance redressal
The bill empowers the Council to establish mechanisms for redressal of grievances pertaining to mobility and overseas stay. However, the procedure and timeline to be followed in the cases should be outlined in the bill. Missions should have dedicated officials and weekly sessions exclusively for redressal of grievances.

14) Serious approach on tackling trafficking
The current chapter VII on Countering Human Trafficking and Irregular Emigration does not delve deeper into the subject and is insufficient to tackle the problem. Currently, all that the Chapter does is to entrust the Council with the responsibility to Overseas Mobility and Welfare Council to undertake policies, measures and programmes to counter human trafficking and irregular migration. This level of delegation should not happen in case of an important subject that needs to be addressed as a part of the primary legislation. The revised Chapter should consider the following aspects:
a) Should be more extensive, detailing the support to be mandatorily provided to victims
b) Safe house provision for victims who are rescued, or want to be repatriated – especially within diplomatic missions
c) Should have provisions to impose punishment measures for Indian nationals committing these crimes

15) Forums for discussing the problems faced by emigrants
In April 2025, the Parliamentary Standing Committee had recommended initiatives as it empowers the Diaspora community to play an active role in shaping policies that impact their lives.
We recommend that the bill provide for creation of an emigrants forum in all states helping shape the future of migration while also involving migrants in shaping state policies based on their lived experiences abroad.

16) Provision for legal aid
As a legislative framework for safe migration of Indians abroad, the bill fails to factor provisions for free legal aid for the needy Indians. We recommend that the Indian Diplomatic Missions maintain a list of pro bono and professional lawyers to facilitate legal assistance for Indian citizens in distress. The support could be potentially funded through the Welfare Fund.

17) Voting opportunities for overseas Indians
Currently, Non Resident Indians (NRI) with names featured in the voting rolls must be physically present in their constituency to cast their vote. Many countries like Australia allow their overseas citizens to use postal ballots or facilities available in their diplomatic mission to support them participate in the electoral process. It is high time the Government of India extended the facility of postal ballots or physical voting at diplomatic missions.

18) Need to define ‘vulnerable classes of emigrants’
The preamble of the Act places a special responsibility to protect those deemed more vulnerable. Clause 4 of the bill empowers the Overseas Mobility and Welfare Council to administer programmes and schemes for the welfare of emigrants to ensure safe, orderly and regular mobility with special consideration to vulnerable classes of emigrants. The phrase ‘vulnerable’ features four times in the bill without a clear indication on what the word means, except in clause 19 where the clause emphasises on the need to give special consideration to the protection and welfare of vulnerable categories of emigrants especially women and children. We recommend that the bill clearly defines the word ‘vulnerable’ that includes:

a) children
b) women
c) senior citizen
d) disabled
e) poor
f) and members of SC, ST and OBC communities


19) Increasing staffing at Diplomatic missions
In 2023, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs had pointed out that India’s diplomatic service is short-staffed compared to other countries. To serve the welfare measures outlined under this Act, there should be a dedicated ‘Diaspora welfare officer’ in all diplomatic missions along with dedicated funding and adequate human resources to implement the Act. Without assured financial and staffing support, the Act risks remaining only on paper.

20) Dignified repatriation of mortal remains
The Bill mentions various stages of life of emigrants abroad. However, it does explicitly state what needs to be done in case of an unfortunate death of an Indian abroad. According to a statement laid in the Parliament, mortal remains of 19,574 Indian citizens had been brought back to India during the last three years (2022, 2023 and 2024). Though the Ministry of External Affairs has a mechanism to coordinate with all Missions abroad to provide help to Indian nationals abroad in distress including in cases of deaths, local cremation/burial or transportation of mortal remains to India, the Overseas Mobility (Facilitation and Welfare) Bill, 2025 should have a dedicated chapter on repatriation that focuses on
a) dignified repatriation of nationals in distress
b) dignified repatriation of mortal remains of nationals
c) Emergency repatriation

We have proposed detailed new sections to provide Emergency repatriation and dignified repatriation of mortal remains of Indian nationals.

21) Emergency repatriation
We propose a new section under this bill to safeguard the interests of Indians in dangerous situations including war, armed conflict, civil unrest, outbreak of disease, natural disaster, or any situation that presents a grave threat to the safety, security, or well-being of Indian citizens. This new section outlines the procedure and support systems for emergency repatriation reflecting global best practices on consular and crisis-management frameworks.

22) Return and reintegration
The clause 4 (d) summarizes the purpose of this law i.e., to promote safe stay, cultural integration, social security, remittance and legal matters, safe and orderly return, and reintegration of returnees. However, except this instance, the word ‘reintegration’ does not feature anywhere else in the bill. The bill should clearly outline the economic, social and psychological support to be provided to these returnees.

23) Provision for public consultation during rulemaking and regulation making
Taking cue from this consultation, the Bill should include provisions in the clauses 32 and 33 to mandatorily consult states, stakeholders and the public at large during rulemaking and regulation making for this important legislation. Various statutes in India have incorporated measures to engage stakeholders or the public. A minimum of thirty days should be provided to stakeholder to respond on the draft rules and regulation, this would also help improve the quality of the legislation.

Telangana Govt’s NRI Advisory Committee requests the Ministry of External Affairs to provide the Committee with an opportunity to appear and present our representation to the MEA team. We hope that you take our inputs into consideration on merit, before placing the revised bill in the Parliament.

Regards

Ambassador Dr. B.M. Vinod Kumar, IFS (Retd)

Chairman, The NRI Advisory Committee, Govt of Telangana

Mobile: +91 77319 30131 E-mail: vbmkumar@yahoo.com

Mandha Bheem Reddy, Vice Chairman

The NRI Advisory Committee, Govt of Telangana

Mobile: +91 98494 22622 E-mail: mbreddy.hyd@gmail.com