Repatriation of mortal remains to be easier

Launching the portal, which can be accessed at the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) website (www.moia.gov.in), External Affairs Minister and MOIA Sushma Swaraj said the portal is an important step to help the Indian diaspora, especially the seven million Indians in the Emigration Check Required (ECR) countries. Screen grab

The government on Tuesday launched an online system to lessen the hassles in repatriating the mortal remains of Indian citizens who passed away abroad—particularly in West Asian, North African or the Gulf countries.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who also holds the Overseas Indian Affairs portfolio, launched the portal for facilitating repatriation of mortal remains of deceased emigrants from India.

The kin of the deceased could access the system on the website of the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, and submit an application for assistance from the concerned Embassy of India for repatriation of the remains.

“We at the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs often receive requests from citizens to bring back the mortal remains of their near and dear ones from other countries,” said Swaraj, formally inaugurating the system at the Jawaharlal Nehru Bhavan here. “In some cases, the corpses have remained in another country for five months.”
The wait is even longer in the cases of unnatural deaths due to procedure of investigation.

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