Indian students losing lives in USA | Image: IANS

Since 2018, 403 Indian students overseas have lost their lives, with Canada, the UK, Russia, the USA, and Australia topping the list. 

The numbers were revealed by external affairs minister S Jaishankar, who answered the question about the ‘safety of Indian students abroad’ in Lok Sabha on Feb 2.

The question, asked by former MP of Guntur, Jayadev Galla, asked the MEA if the Government has introduced any schemes for the well-being of Indian students in foreign countries, the number of Indian students who have lost lives abroad in the last five years, and number of Indian students rescued from conflict zones in last three years.

The numbers come days after four Indian students have lost their lives in quick succession, raising concerns over Indian students abroad.

Responding to the query, Jaishankar stated that ‘403 incidents of death of Indian students abroad have been reported since 2018 due to various reasons including natural causes, accidents and medical conditions’.

Canada, the UK, and Russia ruled the list, with 91, 48, and 40 deaths, respectively, since 2018. Closely following these countries were the US and Australia, reporting deaths of 36 and 35 Indian students, respectively.

Talking about the safety measures, the MEA stated that the overseas Indian missions encourage Indian students to register with them and continuous communication is maintained wherever Indian students are pursuing their education abroad.

Grievance redressal through channels such as calls, walk-ins, emails, social media, 24x7 helplines, open houses, and the MADAD (MEA in Aid of Diaspora in Distress) portal is also available to the students, according to MEA.

During emergencies or crises, assistance is provided to distressed or stranded Indian students, offering support in terms of food, shelter, medicine, and facilitating their return to India, added MEA’s answer.

The answer also added that 23,906 Indians were evacuated from conflict zones in the last three years, including students. Most of the evacuated Indians belonged to Kerala (3,636), followed by Uttar Pradesh (2,862), Tamil Nadu (1,854), Gujarat (1,546), and Haryana (1,503).

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