Kodikunnil Suresh, MP, criticized the Union government in the Lok Sabha for underutilization of the Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF), citing official figures submitted by the Ministry of External Affairs.
In a statement issued here on Saturday, MP Mavelikara said that according to the government’s own response, ₹705 crore remains unspent in the ICWF corpus as on June 30, 2025, even as Indians abroad continue to face detention, medical emergencies, legal and repatriation difficulties.
“ICWF was formed to provide emergency medical assistance, board and lodging, legal aid, airlift, transportation of mortal remains and support to abandoned Indian women abroad. While the government says that more than ₹732 crore has been used since inception to help around ₹3.6 lakh, distressed Indians, the existence of such a massive unspent balance,” reveals Mr. NDA, clearly proactive failure and failure of government. he said.
A drastic drop
He said spending figures for the year showed a sharp and worrying decline. In 2020, ICWF expenditure was ₹128.98 million. This drastically dropped to ₹23.27 crore in 2021. In 2022, ₹23.57 crore was spent. Although there was a slight increase to ₹ 33.91 crore in 2023, the expenditure fell again to ₹ 21.62 crore in 2024 and further to a mere ₹ 12.95 crore in 2025 (by June).
The category-wise data further revealed misplaced priorities, Mr. Suresh said. Expenditure on food and lodging has fallen from over ₹14.42 crore in 2020 to around ₹5.15 crore in 2025 (by June). Spending on emergency medical care fell sharply from ₹1.14 million in 2020 to just ₹13.58 lakh in 2025. Spending on legal aid, which is crucial for Indians facing detention and prosecution abroad, remained inconsistent and insufficient. Support for abandoned Indian women abroad continues to be negligible, often limited to a few million rupees a year, despite the growing number of cases.
He said the crisis was most visible in the Gulf region, where thousands of Malaysian and Indian migrant workers live. Countries including Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain routinely witness labor disputes, medical emergencies, detentions and human rights violations involving Indian workers. “However, utilization of the ICWF remains grossly inadequate. In Kuwait, expenditure has declined from ₹ 25.18 lakh in 2021 to ₹ 1.72 lakh in 2025. In Qatar (Doha), expenditure has fluctuated between ₹ 48.60 lakh in 2027 to 2022, lac In Saudi Arabia (Riyadh) from 2022 to 2025 spent around ₹ 7.87 crore, which is still insufficient in several years given the magnitude of labor and legal issues faced by several Indian missions, Dubai, while Oman and Bahrain also showed limited disbursements,” said MP Mavelikara.
He said countries with large Indian and Malayali populations, including Canada, the US, the UK and Italy, faced similar neglect outside the Gulf.
Published – 20 Dec 2025 20:33 IST
