Jeddah, Apr 29: Saudi Arabia and India have constituted a joint group to address all problems facing the Indian community, including issues related to workers.
An announcement to this effect was made here on Sunday by Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi, who arrived in the Kingdom Saturday evening heading a high-level delegation which includes Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed and Adviser to the Prime Minister T.K.A. Nair to take up the issue of the welfare of Indian workers with the Saudi authorities in the wake of the Nitaqat program.
The joint group will be led by Saudi Deputy Minister of Labor Ahmed Al-Humaidan and Deputy Chief of Mission of Indian Embassy Sibi George. The first meeting of the group will be held in Riyadh on May 1.
The two countries have also agreed to expedite discussions on the MoU for labor cooperation. For this a Joint Working Group on Labor has been formed, which will meet in New Delhi next month.
According to Ravi, Saudi Arabia and India will work closely to make the recruitment process more transparent.
The delegation called on Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Saud Al-Faisal and Labor Minister Adel Fakieh on Sunday. The Nitaqat program, the issues related to undocumented workers and those who had overstayed their visas topped the agenda of the meetings.
“The meeting with the Labor Minister went very well. It was a fruitful, result-oriented meeting,” said Ravi.
The delegation apprised Prince Saud of the outcome of its meeting with the Labor Minister. “He was appreciative of the dialogue between the delegation and the Ministry of Labor and shared the belief that the dialogue would yield positive results,” Ravi said.
The visit of the high-level delegation follows concerns in India over the rumored exodus of workers due to the strict implementation of the Nitaqat program for localizing jobs. The crackdown last month created panic among undocumented workers. The King intervened and granted a three-month grace period for workers to rectify their status.
Undocumented Indian workers have been crowding the Indian missions for Emergency Certificates (ECs) to go back home. Indian officials are accepting forms to issue ECs in anticipation of a Saudi amnesty or to those who have received clearance from the Saudi authorities.
“We came here because we came to know that some members of the Indian community were in distress,” said the Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs.
On a question about the rehabilitation of workers going back home, Ravi said the issue concerns state governments, and that he had called a meeting in this regard. “We came to the conclusion that whenever such persons arrive home the state governments will take the initiative to rehabilitate them. The government of India will also help in whatever way it can,” he said without elaborating on the steps being planned.
On the issue of housewives and daughters of expat workers working in the private sector, the minister said that the issue was taken up during the meeting. “I hope that no problems will come,” he said.
Elaborating on the two groups, E. Ahmed said that there are issues that need immediate attention and there are issues requiring long-term dialogue. For the issues needing immediate attention, the joint group has been constituted and the long-term issues will be taken up by the JWG.
He also categorically denied that he ever said that the Indian government will bear air ticket expenses of returning workers.
There are more than two million Indians working in Saudi Arabia, making their home country the largest recipient of the remittances from the Diaspora.
There are some three million undocumented foreign workers in Saudi Arabia, a chunk of whom are from India.
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