Lok Sabha Question No. 637 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-11-20
Subject: Death of Indian Workers Abroad
Ministry: EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
Asked by: Uttam Kumar Nalamada Reddy

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.637 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.11.2019

## DEATH OF INDIAN WORKERS ABROAD

637. SHRI UTTAM KUMAR REDDY NALAMADA:

Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a ) the number of reported deaths of Indian migrant workers in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and UAE since 2014 and the details of these deaths;
- (b) the number of complaint received from Indian migrant workers in these countries regarding poor working conditions and mistreatment;
- (c) the details of action taken and the status of these complaints; and
- (d) whether any measures are being considered or have been implemented to ensure decent working conditions for Indian migrant workers in these countries and if so, the details thereof?

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

## [SHRI V. MURALEEDHARAN]

- (a) As per available information, the number of Indians, including the migrant workers, who have reportedly died in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and UAE since 2014 is given as below -
- (b) As per information given by our Missions and Posts in the Gulf countries, the number of complaints by Indian workers due to various reasons are as follows -

| S. No.   | Name of Country      |   The number of reported death of Indians in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and UAE |   The number of reported death of Indians in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and UAE |   The number of reported death of Indians in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and UAE |   The number of reported death of Indians in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and UAE |   The number of reported death of Indians in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and UAE | The number of reported death of Indians in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and UAE   |
|----------|----------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| S. No.   | Name of Country      |                                                                                            2014 |                                                                                            2015 |                                                                                            2016 |                                                                                            2017 |                                                                                            2018 | 2019 (till October 2019)                                                                        |
| 1        | Bahrain              |                                                                                             175 |                                                                                             223 |                                                                                             186 |                                                                                             237 |                                                                                             234 | 180                                                                                             |
| 2        | Kuwait               |                                                                                             559 |                                                                                             611 |                                                                                             576 |                                                                                             591 |                                                                                             659 | 584                                                                                             |
| 3        | Oman                 |                                                                                             519 |                                                                                             520 |                                                                                             547 |                                                                                             495 |                                                                                             526 | 402                                                                                             |
| 4        | Qatar                |                                                                                             279 |                                                                                             198 |                                                                                             281 |                                                                                             282 |                                                                                             285 | 286                                                                                             |
| 5        | Saudi Arabia         |                                                                                            2427 |                                                                                            2694 |                                                                                            2766 |                                                                                            2664 |                                                                                            2551 | 1920                                                                                            |
| 6        | United Arab Emirates |                                                                                            1429 |                                                                                            1540 |                                                                                            1657 |                                                                                            1637 |                                                                                            1759 | 1451                                                                                            |

|   S. No. | Country      |   2014 |   2015 |   2016 |   2017 |   2018 | 2019            |
|----------|--------------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|-----------------|
|        1 | Bahrain      |    821 |    833 |    693 |    792 |    734 | 585 (13.11.19)  |
|        2 | Qatar        |   3943 |   3868 |   2747 |   3328 |   3244 | 1883 (Oct)      |
|        3 | Saudi Arabia |   3732 |   2921 |   8912 |   8447 |   8272 | 4286(12.11.19 ) |
|        4 | Oman         |   1358 |   1097 |   2245 |   4144 |   3594 | 2308(Oct)       |
|        5 | Kuwait       |   3033 |   3493 |   4187 |   4481 |   3287 | 3496(Oct)       |
|        6 | United       |   1718 |   1936 |   2368 |   3756 |   2153 | 2493(Oct)       |

| Arab Emirates   |
|-----------------|

(c) Most of the complaints received from Indian workers are regarding non-payment of salaries and denial of legitimate labour rights and benefits such as non-issuance/renewal of residence permits, non-payment/grant of overtime allowance, weekly holidays, longer working hours, refusal to grant exit/re-entry permits for visit to India, refusal to allow the worker to return to India on final exit visa after completion of their contracts and nonprovision of medical and insurance facilities, not being paid compensation upon death etc.

On receipt  of   complaints   from   or   on   behalf   of   the   emigrants,   the   same   are addressed quickly by the Indian Missions by taking them up with the concerned local government authorities for resolution. Complaints pertaining to employment related issues are taken up by the Indian Missions with the concerned foreign employer/ Labour Department and other concerned officials in that country for prompt redressal. Whenever required and possible the embassy officials even contact the employers for resolution of grievances.

(d) The Government has taken several steps to safeguard the interests of Indian emigrants in the Gulf and other ECR countries. These include:

- (i) The on-line MADAD portal enables the emigrant workers and their family members to register their consular grievances on-line and track their redressal.
- (ii) Grievances related to Overseas Employment in notified Emigration Check Required (ECR) countries can also be lodged on e-Migrate portal directly by emigrants/relatives or through the Pravasi Bharatiya Sahayata Kendras (PBSK). These grievances are settled by respective jurisdictional Protectors of Emigrants (PoEs) as per laid down procedures.
- (iii) Pravasi Bharatiya Sahayata Kendras (PBSK) have been set up in New Delhi and at Dubai (UAE), Sharjah (UAE), Riyadh, Jeddah (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) and Kuala  Lumpur   (Malaysia),   to   provide   guidance   and   counseling   on   all   matters pertaining to overseas Indian workers.
- (iv) Kshetriya Pravasi Sahayata Kendras (KPSK) have also been setup in Kochi, Hyderabad, Chennai and Lucknow to assist emigrants or their relatives to redress their problems/complaints regarding overseas employment.
- (v) Missions have also established 24x7 Helplines and T oll Free Helplines for the benefit of Indian workers to seek help.
- (vi) Grievances brought to the notice of the Ministry and the Missions through social media, including twitter, are also promptly addressed.
- (vii) The Missions utilise the Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF) to provide assistance to overseas Indian nationals in times of distress. The guidelines of the Indian community welfare fund have been revised recently to expand the scope of welfare measures and to cover three key areas, namely, assisting overseas Indian nationals in distress situations, community welfare activities and improvement in consular services.
- (viii) Labour and Manpower Cooperation MoUs/Agreements are in place with the six   Gulf   Cooperation   Council   (GCC)   countries   that   provide   the   institutional framework to   comprehensively   discuss   and   review   labour   related   issues.     In accordance with the Labour and Manpower Cooperation/Agreement, Joint Working Group (JWG) meetings are held on regular basis to discuss various labour related issues.

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