The Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs, Vyalar Ravi and Minister of State for Women and Child Development, Renuka Chowdhury have agreed to set up a six-member sub- committee to deal with the issue of harassed wives of NRIs and beleaguered maids working overseas.

Nirmal Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs would head the committee, which would draw a member each from the Ministries of Law, Home Affairs and Women and Child Development.

As most of the failed NRI marriages are from Punjab, and domestic servant related cases have their roots in Andhra Pradesh, these two states would also be represented by a member each on the sub-committee.

The committee will delve into the legal dimension of these cases and submit its report in a month's time. The Indian government has taken a firm view of these harassment cases, and strict action is likely to be taken.

Emigration laws could be amended, if necessary to pre-empt insidious intent on the part of NRIs. The cases of affected women married to NRIs have been a major concern of the Ministry of Women and Child Development, and the number of reported cases are as high as 30,000.

NRI husbands take refuge under foreign laws to circumvent retribution. Similarly, in the case of unskilled labour working overseas, exploitation is often due to lack of awareness of labour laws.

The sub-committee is the first such initiative taken by the Indian government to bring harassment cases to book.

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