Lok Sabha Question No. 6317 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-04-12
Subject: Payment Issue of Workers
Ministry: EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
Asked by: A.P. JITHENDER REDDY

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.6317 TO BE ANSWERED ON 12.04.2017

## PAYMENT ISSUE OF WORKERS

6317. SHRI A.P. JITHENDER REDDY:

Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  a  large  number  of  migrant  workers  in  Qatar  have  gone unpaid for up to four months and if so, the details thereof and the steps taken by the Government to resolve this issue;
- (b) the measures  undertaken by the Government  to ensure the protection  of  interests  of  Indian  migrant  workers  in  the Gulf nations;
- (c) whether  the  Government  has  identified  the  reasons  behind  such problems which persist  despite reforms  like  the  introduction  of  a Wage Protection System and if so, the details thereof; and
- (d) whether  any  special  provisions  have  been  made  to  promote  the welfare of women workers and if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS [GEN. (DR) V. K. SINGH (RETD)]

- (a) The  Indian  Mission  in  Qatar  has  reported  only  one  specific  case involving  162  Indian  nationals,  employed  with  M/S  Scale  Trading  & Contracting  Company,  who  had  not  been  paid  salary  for  5  months  and denied final settlement and exit permit with passport. Mission had taken up the matter with the Qatari authorities. The Mission arranged the air tickets from Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF) and repatriated 160 Indian emigrant workers while the remaining 2 opted to continue working in the company.

Indian  Mission  receives  complaints  from  Indian  emigrants,  from time  to  time,  regarding  violation  of  contractual  terms,  adverse  working conditions, wage related issues, employer related problems, medical and insurance related problems and compensation/death claims. On receipt of such complaints, the same are addressed by Indian Mission immediately by taking them up with the concerned authorities in Qatar for immediate resolution.

- (b) The Government  has  taken several steps to safeguard the interests of Indian emigrants to the Gulf countries, these are:
- (i) 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.
- (ii) The Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF) provides assistance to Overseas Indian nationals in times of distress.
- (iii) The Indian Workers Resource Centre (IWRC) has been    set up in Dubai to provide guidance and counselling on all matters pertaining to overseas Indian workers.
- (iv) Four  more  IWRCs  have  been  approved  in  Sharjah  (UAE),  Riyadh and Jeddah (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia).
- (v) Shelter homes for distressed Indian nationals have been setup in Bahrain, Kingdom  of  Saudi  Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar,  UAE  and Malaysia.
- (vi) Missions in Gulf countries also conduct Open Houses on a regular basis where workers can seek redressal of their grievances.
- (vii) Missions  in  Gulf  countries  have  also  established  24x7  helplines and Toll Free help lines for the benefit of Indian workers to seek help.
- (viii)   The on-line MADAD portal enables the emigrant workers and their family  members  to  register  their  consular  grievances  online  and track their redressal.
- (ix)    A  multi-lingual  24X7  Helpline  of  Overseas  Workers  Resource Centre (OWRC) in Gurugram, Haryana provides information, guidance  and  grievance  redressal  on  all  issues  and  problems pertaining to overseas employment of Indian nationals.
- (x) Migrant Resource Centres have also been setup in Kochi, Hyderabad, Chennai and Lucknow.
- (xi) Grievances related to Overseas Employment in notified Emigration Check Required (ECR) countries including gulf countries, can  be  logged  in  directly by  emigrants/  relatives/ Overseas Workers Resource's Centre (OWRC) on eMigrate portal. These grievances are settled by respective jurisdictional Protectors of Emigrants (PoEs) as per laid down procedure.
- (c) The  Government  of  Qatar  launched  a  Wage  Protection  System (WPS) in November 2015, which made it mandatory for all companies to pay salaries of their workers directly into their bank accounts. However, there  are  other  reasons  also,  due  to  which  workers  sometimes  face problems, such as:
- (i)
- (ii)
- (iii)
- (iv)
- (v)
- (vi)
- disputes with sponsors/company;
- underpayment of salary/allowances;
- non-payment of overtime;
- premature termination of services;
- non-release of passports;
- unhygienic living conditions in camps; and
- (vii)   non-availability of proper medical facilities etc.

Indian Mission takes up these issues immediately with concerned Government authorities for prompt redressal.

- (d) To promote the welfare and protection of women  workers, Government has taken further measures in restricting the recruitment of ECR  passport  holding  Indian  female  workers,  only  through  six  State Government  recruiting  agencies  w.e.f.  2 nd   August,  2016  to  avoid  their harassment by foreign employers.  The Foreign Employers who intend to recruit Indian female domestic workers have to register themselves on eMigrate System  with  the respective Missions and  deposit a  bank guarantee  equivalent  to  US$2500/-  and  after  registration,  they  can approach any of these six agencies for recruitment. The age restriction of 30  years  has  also  been  made  mandatory  in  respect  of  all  women emigrants emigrating on ECR passport, irrespective of the nature/category of employment. Further, mandatory Insurance and medical cover is extended to all Indian workers including women, through Pravasi Bhartiya Bima Yojana (PBBY).

*****