The MADAD portal, officially the Consular Services Management System, is a web-based platform and grievance redressal system launched by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) of India. It was introduced on February 21, 2015, as part of the MEA's "Good Governance" initiatives to extend consular assistance to Indian nationals abroad. The portal was created to reform the linear process of grievance submission, significantly cutting down the time required for complaints to reach the concerned Indian Embassy or Consulate and improving tracking and redressal.
The mechanism allows Indian citizens, including students, to register grievances online and track their status. The portal handles a variety of issues, such as salary dues, repatriation, problems with recruiting agents, and specific concerns for students like visa, academic, financial, and safety issues. The system maintains the entire history of a complaint online and allows for the registration of Indian students abroad to facilitate contact by the nearest Indian Mission/Post during emergencies.
The portal connects to all Indian Missions and Posts abroad and the MEA's Branch Secretariats in Chennai, Guwahati, Hyderabad, and Kolkata. It is conceptually related to other MEA initiatives for overseas Indians, such as the e-Migrate project and Migrant Resource Centres (MRCs). A significant change, MADAD V2.0, is being rolled out from December 15, 2025, which includes improved data validation, faster processing workflows, upgraded security, and an SMS facility for real-time updates. Despite the upgrade, the MEA is considering further changes or a separate platform due to limited student participation, with only about 41,000 students having registered since 2015.