All marriages between Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) or Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs) and Indian citizens should be compulsorily registered in India, the Law Commission recommended to the Union government on Friday.

Since 2015, more than 11,000 women married to Indians abroad have approached India’s foreign missions with complaints of domestic crises. Many cases involve allegations of fraud and abuse. But in most instances, overseas officials are able to do only so much to help.

A striking feature of economic development in India is that a major part of the country’s nonagricultural workforce and significant numbers of seasonal workers in agr