The Gulf Region

The economic boom combined with acute labour shortages has created a huge and continuing demand since the 1970s for short-term immigrant labour in the countries of the Gulf and West Asia/ North Africa.

The economic boom combined with acute labour shortages has created a huge and continuing demand since the 1970s for short-term immigrant labour in the countries of the Gulf and West Asia/ North Africa.

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Estimated at more than 3 million, with more than half from Kerala, 70% of the Indian population in the region consists of semi-skilled and unskilled workers, 20-30% consists of Indian professionals and white-collar workers (doctors, engineers, architects, chartered accountants and bankers), and a small fraction is composed of domestic help.

Indian workers mostly make remittances to India from the Gulf, long recognised as a significant contribution to India’s balance of payments, in the first category. Following Operation Desert Storm the number of Indians in Iraq has been reduced to a handful. The Indian community in Libya has also declined, mainly due to an economic slowdown, from almost 40,000 in the mid-1980s to about 12,000.

Most of the countries in the region do not permit their Indian workers to obtain local citizenship regardless of their employment category. The high turnover has ensured that the Indian population in the Gulf has retained active familial and economic links with India.

The establishment of Indian schools in several Gulf countries to give their children quality education at par with Indian standards is another distinctive feature of the Diaspora in this region.

The conditions of employment and emoluments vary greatly between the various categories of employees. While professionals are allowed to bring their families with them (even here there are many restrictions), labourers are not. The latter category is prone to exploitation both in the Gulf countries and at home.

In the former, their problems range from recruiting agents, the poor barrack-like accommodation allotted, long working hours beyond the legal 8-hour workday, deduction of various fees from their salaries, withholding of salaries and return passages and poor or non-existent medical facilities - to the apparently mandatory retention of passports on arrival in all the Gulf countries.

This leaves them at the mercy of their employers, reinforced by laws requiring local official sanction for a change of jobs, or for an exit permit to return to India. Some become dupes of drug smugglers, leading to their execution under local laws. Cases of Indian women recruited as housemaids, being ill-treated have been reported.

On their return to India, illiterate workers are often harassed and exploited by the customs authorities at Indian airports. White-collar workers naturally have a different set of requirements, centring on higher education for their children in India and investment incentives.

The Indian population in the Gulf is an important contributor to India's economic welfare. Their welfare should also be a priority for us. During the Committee's visit to the Gulf countries, representatives of the overseas Indian labourers had brought to its attention the following expectations from Government of India to safeguard their interests -

1. Institution of effective measures by the Ministry of Labour to prevent malpractices by recruiting agents in India;

2. Negotiation of a 'Standard Labour Export Agreement' with all the Gulf countries prescribing such things as a minimum wage, free housing, medical care, limits on daily working hours, overtime allowance rates, return air tickets and compensation for on-the-job death or injury;

3. Setting up of agencies by the State governments to advise prospective Indian workers about their rights and obligations;

4. Revival of the earlier practice of requiring our Missions in the Gulf countries to verify the genuineness of overseas job offers and the reliability of the parties offering them;

5. Support in eliminating the practice of employers taking in their charge the passports of their employees immediately on their arrival;

6. Frequent visits by the consular officers in our Missions in the Gulf countries to the labour camps;

7. Holding of regular consultations by the welfare/ consular officers dealing with the community in our Missions with his counterpart in the host country's Labour Ministry;

8. Assistance for resettlement through training and/or alternative employment; assistance in obtaining the return fare to India from the employers; and an

9. End to the harassment of Gulf returnees by the Customs and Immigration authorities at their port of entry into India.

During its survey of the other Diasporas, the Committee noted that the Protector of Emigrants in the Ministry of Labour was charged with the functions of protecting the interests of India's overseas blue-collar workers. During its examination of State-level initiatives, the Committee noted that Kerala had taken commendable initiatives to safeguard the interests of its overseas blue-collar workers.

In addition the Conference of Welfare Officers of Indian Missions/ Posts in the Gulf countries held in New Delhi in October 2001, had come up with useful recommendations including supervision of contracts and improvement of recruitment procedures; expansion of the provision for setting up welfare funds by our Missions abroad as well as for provision of legal assistance; arrangements for accident insurance cover; provision-of a death allowance and assistance for skills upgradation to ensure better remuneration of Indian workers abroad.

The Committee noted that several additional measures were being considered by the Government of India, including the establishment of a Central Manpower Export Promotion Council; an Overseas Workers Welfare Fund to help stranded and disabled workers, and special insurance for Indian workers abroad through the New India Assurance Company to cover premature repatriation due to harassment, unemployment benefits, rehabilitation packages and medical benefits.

The Committee was of the view that these measures should be implemented at the earliest possible. In brief these were - setting up of a welfare fund for repatriated workers and workers in distress; negotiation of a Standard Labour Export Agreement with the host countries; tightening supervision of both the employment contracts and contracts and conditions of our overseas workers by our Missions; launching the insurance schemes expeditiously; estabilishing mechanisms for the provision of legal assistance locally, and instituting training programmes for human resource development and skills upgradation.

The Committee recommended that the Member-Secretary of the proposed central Organisation, who will deal with these matters, should elaborate further on legislative and administrative measures to be taken to ensure that these concerns are fully and satisfactorily addressed.

This would be in addition to his/ her functions as the central nodal point in addressing the specific problems related to overseas blue-collar workers and liaising with the concerned Government departments at the central and State level, our Missions abroad and the workers themselves.

This would go a long way in giving due recognition to the contributions of the overseas workers to the national economy.