Lok Sabha Question No. 3123 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-03-16
Subject: Work Contract
Ministry: EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
Asked by: RAM CHARITRA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3123 TO BE ANSWERED ON 16.03.2016

## WORK CONTRACT

3123. SHRI RAM CHARITRA NISHAD:

Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a)     whether complaints regarding employers giving Indian workers short shrift  and  agents  duping  them are on the rise in foreign countries, especially in the Middle-East;
- (b)     if so, the details thereof;
- (c)     whether to end such menace, the work contract can now be signed in five Indian languages; and
- (d)     if so, the details in this regard and the additional steps taken by the Government to sensitize the workers regarding their rights abroad?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) & (b) As  per  information  made  available  to  this  Ministry  by  the Indian  Missions/Posts  in  ten  Middle  East  countries,  including  six  GCC countries, there is no general pattern to indicate an increase in complaints against foreign employers by Indian workers in these countries. Details of complaints received by the Indian Missions/posts in these countries during the last three years are at Annexure-I. There has been  no  rise  in  the  number  of  complaints  received  against  recruiting agents  also,  over  the  same  period.  The  details  of  complaints  received against registered and unregistered recruiting agents during the last three years are given in Annexure-II.
- (c) At present, the work contract is signed only in English in all Middle East countries except United Arab Emirates (UAE). UAE Government has recently  approved  providing  the  work  contract  in  nine  more  foreign

languages, other than Arabic and English, which inter-alia includes Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil & Bengali.

(d) Steps taken by Government to sensitize the workers regarding their rights abroad are as under:-

(i) As  per  the  Rule  10(xiv)  of  the  Emigration  Rules,  1983,  the registered Recruiting Agents are inter-alia mandated to provide details  of  employment,  including  contract  conditions,  to  the intending emigrants before recruitment.

(ii) The Ministry runs Awareness Campaigns in print and electronic media  from  time  to  time  to  educate  potential  emigrants  about benefits or hazards of legal and illegal migration respectively.

(iii) A 24X7 toll-free helpline viz. Overseas Workers Resource Centre (OWRC) [No. 1800 11 3090] has been set up in Gurgaon, Haryana, to enable emigrants & prospective emigrants to seek information prior to travel and  also file complaints  against Recruiting Agents/Foreign Employer, after/before emigrating.

(iv) UAE is one of the top destinations for number of Indian workers going to Middle East countries. Additional measures taken by the Indian Mission  in  UAE  to  create  awareness  among  Indian emigrants are at Annexure-III.

*****

## Number of complaints received in the Indian Missions/Posts in ten Middle East countries, including six GCC countries, during the last three years.

|   No. | Name of Mission         | 2013   | 2014   | 2015   | 2016 (Upto Feb/March 2016)   |
|-------|-------------------------|--------|--------|--------|------------------------------|
|     1 | Bahrain                 | 820    | 821    | 833    | 92                           |
|     2 | Iraq                    | -      | 18     | 301    | 50                           |
|     3 | Jordan                  | Nil    | Nil    | 03     | Nil                          |
|     4 | Kuwait                  | 2443   | 3033   | 3493   | 414**                        |
|     5 | Lebanon                 | Nil    | Nil    | Nil    | Nil                          |
|     6 | Qatar                   | 3965   | 3943   | 4132   | 787#                         |
|     7 | Oman                    | 1748   | 1358   | 1097   | 330                          |
|     8 | UAE                     | 1104   | 1718   | 1936   | 383                          |
|     9 | Kingdom of Saudi Arabia | 2866   | 3732   | 2921   | 630                          |
|    10 | Sudan                   | Nil    | Nil    | Nil    | Nil                          |

**upto January, 2016. # upto 7.03.2016 *****

## ANNEXURE -II

## Number of complaints received against recruiting agents in the last three years

| Year                   |   No. of complaints against registered Recruiting Agents |   No. of complaints against unregistered Recruiting Agents |
|------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2013                   |                                                      220 |                                                        272 |
| 2014                   |                                                      170 |                                                        170 |
| 2015                   |                                                      105 |                                                        195 |
| 2016 (upto 29.02.2016) |                                                       25 |                                                         15 |

(Source: Overseas Employment Division, MEA)

*****

## ANNEXURE-III

## ADDITIONAL MEASURES TAKEN BY INDIAN MISSION IN UAE TO CREATE AWARENESS AMONG INDIAN EMIGRANTS

1. A  book  on  'Guidelines  for  Indians'  in  UAE  is  uploaded  on  the  website  of  the Embassy,  which  contains  all  the  relevant  information  to  provide  enough  awareness  to  the workers  regarding  assistance  offered  to  them  by  the  Government  of  India  at  the  time  of distress.
2. Apart from this, a series of information, educative and preventive measures have been adopted in India and UAE which are implemented by the Embassy.An ' Open House' for all Indian  Nationals  to  meet  the  concerned  officials  in  the  Embassy/Consulate  without  any appointment  between  10.00am  -  12.00noon  is  held  on  all  working  days  to  address  their grievances.
3. Prior  vetting  &  attestation  of  employment  documents,  enforcement  of  Emigration Clearance  at  point  of  entry,  minimum  reference  wage  for  employment  of  various  ECR categories of Indian workers, including Indian female workers for whom minimum age for recruitment has been prescribed as 30 years.
4. To  ensure  payment  of  dues  and  proper  treatment  of  ECR  female  workers,  the Embassy/Consulate retain a refundable security deposit of Dhs 9200 (approx US$ 2500) from foreign employers.  This security deposit is refunded only after confirmation of payment of all the dues and safe exit of female worker from the UAE by the mission.
5. Embassy/Consulate also runs a shelter home offering temporary boarding/lodging to distressed  Indian  women  workers  pending  their  repatriation  to  India.  A  24X7  multilingual toll-free  helpline  at  the  Indian  Workers  Resource  Centre  (IWRC)  is  in  operation  since November 2010 for addressing grievances of the Indian workers which also offers free initial legal,  psychological  and  financial  counselling  to  distressed  Indians  and  also  organizes awareness campaigns at prominent labour camps to educate the Indian workers. Grievances/complaints received from the Indian workers are appropriately taken up on caseby-case basis with the employers/local authorities for early redressal/resolution.
6. Since 2009, Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF) has been funding several other welfare initiatives for Indian emigrants, including offering short term food and accommodation  allowance,  air-ticket  at  government  cost  for  their  repatriation  to  India, including transportation of the mortal remains, initial legal assistance and emergency medical help etc.
7. In addition to above, officials from the Embassy/Consulate visit jails, hospitals, police stations,  immigration  department  and  labour  camps  regularly  to  provide  assistance  in deserving cases.

(Some of the other Missions in the gulf countries are also taking similar measures to help Indian emigrants in distress)

*****