New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has asserted that her ministry is now more "people-oriented" and gives priority to rescuing Indian citizens stranded abroad, which was not the case earlier.

As many as 80,000 Indians stuck abroad due to various reasons have been rescued since the BJP government came to power at the Centre in 2014, Sushma said while inaugurating the country's first 'Videsh Bhavan' in Mumbai.

She said that the ruling dispensation has changed the character, the nature and face of the MEA in the last three years. "We have increased the speed of processing of documents, have made our ministry's face more humane, and efficiency of services has improved significantly," Swaraj said.

Underlining the Centre's people-oriented character, she said that earlier, the situation was such that priority was not given to rescuing Indian citizens stranded abroad.

"Some 80,000 Indian citizens, stuck abroad due to various reasons, have been rescued since 2014," the minister said, adding that every state in the country should have such regional Videsh Bhawan.

"When the prime minister talked to us about cooperative federalism and empowering states, my cabinet colleagues asked me what would you do in cooperative federalism policy? I told them that I will take 'Videsh in Pradesh' (and) that is how this Videsh Bhavan came up in Mumbai.

"(As) We wish to cater to the all types of needs of Indians, such videshbhawans are being planned at every state capital to address issues locally. The details would be revealed soon," the minister said.

Highlighting her ministry's achievement, she said that we have got 77 Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) as a legacy in 2014 when the BJP government came to power.

"We have commenced 235 new passport kendras in the last six months. Nine centres in Maharashtra have also come up. Total 251 PSKs in India have opened since May 2014, which shows our commitment and speed of governance," she said. Unlike in the past, Swaraj said that the Indian government has rescued citizens of other nations, including the US, Germany and France among others, too.

"The Yemen conflict was an example of our improved relations with various countries and our growing influence. My colleague Gen (retd) V K Singh was personally present there in Yemen and rescued people--Indian as well as from other countries.

"We had asked the then German and French governments to ask their citizens to register themselves with the Indian embassy in Yemen so that we could rescue them. In many cases, we have saved Pakistani nationals as well. Citizens of 48 nations, including Pakistan, have been rescued by the Indian government at various instances in the last three years," the minister said.

On speedy processing of passport applications, she said, "A committee under the MEA found several rules and regulations irrelevant and unnecessary. We had removed all of them and made the procedure easy for our citizens. We realised that with 4-5 documents, a person can obtain a passport. The unnecessary burden of other documents was stopped completely". The minister also referred to the plight of poor Indians who get stuck in countries, like in West Asia, as they are misled by certain private companies and offices.