RIYADH, 24 November 2007 — Negotiations are under way between the Kingdom and India to protect the rights of Indian workers in Saudi Arabia.
“We have started the process with Saudi Arabia to sign a memorandum of understanding,” Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi had said at the upper house of Parliament on Thursday.
He said that the Ministry has also entered into bilateral labor agreements with the UAE and Kuwait. Similar agreements would be sought with Bahrain, Qatar and Oman, he added.
These agreements would establish a framework for a joint committee consisting of representatives of both countries to meet periodically to discuss and resolve grievances of workers.
Rajeev Shahare, deputy chief of the Indian Embassy confirmed to Arab News that the negotiations are under way. Shahare said that out of the 4.5 million Indian workers in the Gulf around 1.66 million are in the Kingdom. Some 80 percent of the Indian workers in the Kingdom are common laborers. An average of three deaths are reported daily to the Indian missions in Riyadh and Jeddah.
“The cause of these deaths is mainly due to natural causes and accidents,” he said. “Indian expatriates have earned a good reputation in the Kingdom for their perseverance, loyalty and efficiency.”
Shahare said the most common labor abuse of Indian workers is nonpayment or short payment of salaries and contractual violations.
