DUBAI: Even as preparations for the global meeting of Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) known as Pravasi Bharatiya Divas are in full swing in the southern Indian city of Chennai, scores of Indians residing in the Gulf countries seem less enthused by the event to be held from Jan. 7 to 9.
Touted as the biggest such event ever held, the festival is expected to draw over 1,500 overseas Indians from different parts of the world. Although this annual convention, started since 2003, has been the biggest platform for NRIs to engage with the government and people of India, from the point of view of Gulf Indians very little has been achieved. What started as a noble idea of addressing the problems of large Indian Diaspora spread across the globe, the forum seems to be losing its direction.
There is huge criticism that the convention has slowly degenerated into festivity with serious issues just discussed without any concrete action that needs to be taken afterward. Moreover, for the rich Indians from the West and other parts of the world including the Gulf the convention is now a place to flaunt their personal wealth and have great fun during their India stay.
This has become a forum for the government and private agencies to further their businesses through pre— and post-conference tours, musical events, food festivals, etc. Having fun and frolic is fine, but what about the problems that are raised from time to time?
Take the case Gulf Indians as an example. Most of the Indians in the region draw less than $300 per month and still send home the largest remittances when compared to their cousins in the United States of America. But what do they have as help from India?
Most of the Indian embassies in the Gulf are poorly staffed; they are of little help even as the exploitation of the Indian labor has been going on year after year. Poor pay, physical and sexual abuse, unhealthy working conditions, no family status, wherever families are allowed there is no education for children, the list is endless. The middle men and the recruiting agencies have been exploiting the labor for long but the government despite its “hosts of new measures” has not been able to curb the malice on noticeable scale. It is sarcastically said that Indian government has not done much beyond carrying out advertisements on all major television channels to caution the aspiring young people of recruitment scandals. In truth, the manipulative system is so well-entrenched that touts and recruitment agents find new ways to trap their customers.
The labor camps in some of these countries should be seen to be believed. “You knew it before you stepped in” attitude of the hostile sponsors makes the matters worse. With passports confiscated by the sponsors the laborers cannot even return if he or she wants to.
The Indian embassies in these countries do not even provide language assistance or legal aid as they stick to the principle that the laws of the host nation should take its own course. Least said the better about educational help and affordable travel that have been promised to the Gulf Indians.
The so called “budget airline” remains elusive; so is the case of admission policies for higher education in the Indian institutes. A few Indians who can afford to keep their families in the Gulf start sending them back as soon as children complete their initial schooling just to avoid the huge capitation fees or donations fleeced from them in case their children stay-put with the mediocre school education that partly exists in some Gulf cities.
The Indian government did take measures in the past and that included launching of a helpline for migrant workers and a grievance redressal-cum-intervention mechanism for overseas workers in distress. It is hoped the forthcoming NRI summit with the theme “Engaging the Diaspora — The way forward’” would result in bringing out more effective programs that matter to countless poor Indian migrants across the globe especially to those in the Gulf where they are struggling for decades.
