New Emigration law to extend high protection to Indian workers

New Delhi, Sep 10 (UNI) Overseas Indian Affairs (OIA) Ministry today said the proposed amendments to the Indian Emigration Act will give the Indian Missions a statutory role in the protection and welfare of the country's workers abroad, besides providing for stringent action against the unscrupulous recruiting agents and human traffickers.

''The amendments have been finalised and is expected to be placed before the cabinet shortly,'' OIA Minister Vayalar Ravi said here, while inaugurating a two-day second annual conference of Heads of Indian Missions of six GCC countries, Malaysia, Jordan, Libya and Yemen here.

He said the Council for Promotion of Overseas Employment (CPOE), which was cleared by the Union Cabinet last Thursday, will soon be established by the Ministry.

''It will function as a think tank for conducting international labour market research and devising strategies for enabling Indian workers to avail of the employment opportunities overseas,'' he said.

Mr Ravi said his ministry had been on the job of developing medium and long-term policy framework and institutional arrangements to best serve the Overseas Indian Workers.

The abolition of the ECRS (Emigration Clearance Requirement Suspension) system would benefit nearly 600,000 internal travellers from India resulting in a saving of about Rs 100 crore, he added.

Mr Ravi informed that several important decisions have been taken for the protection and welfare of Household Service Workers (HSWs), which need effective implementation and follow-up with the cooperation of Indian Missions.

The emigration process is being revamped to make it simple, efficient and transparent by introduction of e-governance. The MOIA has planned a nation wide awareness campaign to educate the potential emigrants about the dangers of illegal and irregular migration through unscrupulous agents.

The OIA Minister said India would soon sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Malyasia, Bahrain, Oman and Yemen, on the lines of the one already signed with the governments of UAE and Kuwait.

He appreciated the contribution of the Indian diplomatic missions in protecting the rights of Indian emigrants and addressing their problems in the host countries.

''Management of emigration needs sensitivity and empathy on the part of all authorities working in the field of emigration as there is no substitute for governance with a human face.'' Earlier, OIA Secretary Nirmal Singh and Mr N Ravi, Secretary (East) in the External Affairs Ministry also addressed the participants.

The Annual Conference of Heads of Indian Missions of the countries with sizeable number of Indian Overseas Workers is meant to share their experiences, assess the labour situation in the host countries, understand the difficulties faced by them, identify areas in which state governments can cooperate and fine-tune the efforts being made by the Ministry for their protection and welfare.

The Indian workers in the Gulf, estimated at 4.5 million, represent an important segment of Overseas Indians. These workers come from different parts of the India. Most of them are unskilled or semiskilled, come from poor rural background, are not well educated and therefore are vulnerable to exploitation.

They live and work in difficult conditions. The top sourcing states are Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab. These workers send a significant amount of their earnings as remittance.

It is estimated that about half of the total remittance coming to India is sent by these workers.

Overseas Indian workers are known for their dedication, sincerity and discipline in the host countries.

UNI