OIA initiates measures to protect Indian housemaids abroad

New Delhi, May 19 (UNI) The Overseas Indian Affairs (OIA) Ministry will implement a series of new measures to protect the rights of Indian women migrating abroad as housemaids, in the light of reports of their difficult working conditions, ill-treatment, exploitation and sexual abuse.

Accordingly, pre-departure orientation training of emigrant women will be made a statutory responsibility of the recruiting agents.

Other measures proposed by the Ministry included prior and compulsory attestation of employment documents in respect of all women emigrants by Indian Missions abroad, besides ensuring proper work contracts for such workers.

A meeting, attended by OIA Minister Vayalar Ravi, Women and Child Development(WCD) Minister Renuka Chowdhury and National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Girija Vyas, also decided to take stringent action against unscrupulous recruiting agents.

It was decided that strong measures should be taken to make the emigration process more stringent, besides ensuring effective regulation and protecting the rights of domestic workers.

New measures would also include focussed media campaign in the states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka to create awareness and sensitisation, dissemination of information through the existing institutional arrangements of the Ministry of Women and Child Development, conduct of workshops at the state, district and sub-district levels to sensitise administrators and activists.

It was decided to finalise a well-conceived and multi-pronged joint strategy, under the aegis of OIA, NCW and MWCD, for protection and welfare of Indian women going abroad for employment.

Mr Ravi, who returned from a week-long tour of the UAE, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, said Indian women migrating to the Gulf as domestic help were facing problems of non-payment of salaries, delay in payment of salaries, denial of leave, difficult working conditions and ill-treatment to exploitation and sxual abuse.

Ms Chowdhury said a ban on migration of women as domestic help would only encourage illegal migration. She wanted these women to be guided and empowered through various means.

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