Lok Sabha Question No. 852 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-02-07
Subject: Indian Workers Abroad
Ministry: EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
Asked by: KAUSHAL KISHORE

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.852 TO BE ANSWERED ON 07.02.2018

## INDIAN WORKERS ABROAD

## 852. SHRI KAUSHAL KISHORE:

Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has obtained information with regard to Indian citizens working as labourers in companies as well as with high ranking officers in foreign countries, particularly in Dubai and Arabian countries;
- (b) if   so,   the   details   of   labourers   such   as   beldars,   carpenters,   plumbers, electricians etc. working in big companies, particularly in Dubai;
- (c) the number of labourers along with the details of those companies; and
- (d) the action taken by the Government for their security?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

## [GEN. (DR) V. K. SINGH (RETD)]

(a) to (c) The Government maintains the data in respect of Emigration Check Required (ECR) passport holding Indian workers including helper, carpenter, electrician, plumber etc, emigrating legally to any of the 18 ECR countries for overseas employment. Country-wise and Job Role-wise Emigration Clearances Granted to such workers during the year 2017 is at Annexure-I . Exact figures regarding the total number of labourers in different Job Roles and companies in United Arab Emirates is not available as the authorities there do not share such data.

- (d) The Government has taken several steps to safeguard the interests of Indian emigrants to the Gulf countries, these are:
- (i) The on-line MADAD portal enables the emigrant workers and their family members to register their consular grievances online and track their redressal.
- (ii) Grievances related     to   Overseas   Employment   in   notified   Emigration Check Required (ECR) countries including gulf countries, can also be logged   in   directly   by   emigrants/relatives   or   through   the   Overseas Workers Resource Centre (OWRC) on eMigrate portal. These grievances are settled by respective jurisdictional Protectors of Emigrants (PoEs) as per laid down procedures.
- (iii) Missions in Gulf countries also conduct Open Houses on a regular basis where workers can seek redressal of their grievances.
- (iv) A multi-lingual   24X7   Helpline   of   Overseas   Workers   Resource   Centre (OWRC) in New Delhi provides information, guidance and grievance
- redressal on all issues and problems pertaining to overseas employment of Indian nationals.
- (v) Missions in Gulf countries have also established 24x7 helplines and T oll Free help lines for the benefit of Indian workers to seek help.
- (vi) An Indian Workers Resource Centre (IWRC) has been set up at Dubai (UAE) and four more IWRCs have been set up in Sharjah (UAE), Riyadh and Jeddah (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), to provide guidance and counselling on all matters pertaining to overseas Indian workers.
- (vii) Migrant Resource Centres have also been setup in Kochi, Hyderabad, Chennai and Lucknow to assist emigrants or their relatives to redress their problems/complaints regarding overseas employment.
- (viii) The   Missions   utilise   the   Indian   Community   Welfare   Fund   (ICWF)   to provide assistance to overseas Indian nationals in times of distress.
- (ix) Suitable accommodation to distressed Indian nationals has been setup in Bahrain, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE and Malaysia to provide temporary accommodation.
- (x) Labour and Manpower Cooperation MoUs/Agreements are already in place with the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries that provide the   institutional   framework   to   comprehensively   discuss   and   review labour related issues.

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ANNEXURE-I

## NUMBER OF EMIGRATION CLEARANCES GRANTED TO ECR PASSPORT HOLDING INDIAN WORKERS, JOB ROLE WISE, COUNTRY WISE, DURING THE YEAR 2017

| Sl. No.   | Job Roles (Top Ten)   |   United Arab Emirates |   Kingdom of Saudi Arabia |   Kuwait |   Qatar |   Oman |   Bahrain |   Total |
|-----------|-----------------------|------------------------|---------------------------|----------|---------|--------|-----------|---------|
| 1         | Carpenter             |                  23759 |                      2078 |     3186 |    2658 |   8861 |      1045 |   41587 |
| 2         | Electrician           |                   6990 |                      3391 |     1851 |    1480 |   3558 |       410 |   17680 |
| 3         | Plumber               |                   1823 |                      1731 |      417 |     749 |   2720 |       156 |    7596 |
| 4         | Labour                |                   9589 |                     28511 |     7281 |    1870 |      0 |      1615 |   48866 |
| 5         | Driver                |                      0 |                     11051 |    11055 |    1430 |      0 |         0 |   23536 |
| 6         | Cleaner               |                   9461 |                      3738 |      467 |       0 |   2795 |        79 |   16540 |
| 7         | Mechanic              |                  25404 |                      5578 |    10375 |    7415 |   4751 |      1101 |   54624 |
| 8         | Mason                 |                  30664 |                      3180 |     1630 |    3835 |  12336 |      1238 |   52883 |
| 9         | Helper                |                  16819 |                       171 |     3059 |     161 |   2988 |       432 |   23630 |
| 10        | Painter               |                   4035 |                      1187 |      715 |     512 |   2961 |       362 |    9772 |
|           | Total                 |                 128544 |                     60616 |    40036 |   20110 |  40970 |      6438 |  296714 |

Source : e-Migrate portal.