A national consultation on marriage to overseas Indians was organised on February 18 at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi, by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs(MOIA). The purpose of the national consultation was to take into account the perspectives of various stakeholders and make use of their practical experience in finalising a booklet for the guidance of women planning to get married to overseas Indians. The consultation was inaugurated by Dr. Girija Vyas, Chairperson, National Commission for Women (NCW). Vayalar Ravi, Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs gave the presidential address.

Dr. Girija Vyas, in her inaugural address, emphasised that NCW would like to work on the issue of 'failed and fraudulent marriages' and will combine it with their ongoing campaign 'Chalo Gaon Ki Or' to create awareness on this important issue. She emphasised the need for registration of marriage which has been made compulsory by the Supreme Court.

The Minister, in his presidential address, asserted the need for a gender cell in the Ministry and said that civil society and panchayati raj institutions can play an important role. He further added that overseas centres may be set up in select locations abroad to provide assistance to those women in need.

The national consultation was structured into four thematic sessions. In the first session, the draft booklet itself was presented and discussed so that it could be finally adopted for printing and circulation.

The second session was devoted to sensitisation and publicity as a substantial number of the women who end up in failed marriages are often from the rural areas. The need to have simpler versions of the booklet printed in the vernacular languages and publicise them and to sensitise the women and their families about their self-obligation to verify the antecedents of the prospective groom was voiced.

Eminent speakers from civil society, police, legal fraternity and diplomatic missions shared their views on sensitisation and publicity of boolet. It was felt that the State, the media, NGOs and grassroots level organisations needed to be co-opted to tackle this problem effectively.

In India, the police and non-governmental organisations have acquired considerable expertise in recent years in setting up and running helplines and support networks. The third session was therefore devoted to this topic so that the experience gained could be shared in preparing a way for starting similar helplines for women in broken or diffcult marriages with overseas Indians.

The session presented various models of helpline and how to operate them in best possible manner. In the last session, MOIA presented a follow-up action with a timeframe. This included publishing the booklet in vernacular languages and distributing at mass level. It was emphasised that it may be dovetailed into various other initiatives or programmes by various agencies.

The consultation meeting discussed how the various initiatives could be coordinated and a follow up action plan developed for implementation involving the Government of India, State Governments and civil society organisations.