RIYADH, 8 December 2006 — Given the large number of fraudulent recruitments and exploitation of laborers in the Gulf region, the Indian government has decided against relaxing emigration clearance for those seeking jobs in the Gulf countries. In a fresh review, the government has liberalized passport norms. The emigration clearance will now be necessary for some 20 countries out of 191. This is a substantial reduction considering that earlier emigration clearance was a must for 137 countries.
Although official figures show that around 600,000 people leave India for work annually, the unofficial estimates are as high as one million. All these people, whether laborers or professionals in various disciplines such as information technology, medicine, engineering, biotechnology etc., contribute to the national exchequer with their foreign exchange remittances.
Over the years, the country has seen an unprecedented ‘brain-drain’ of its talented professionals, especially to the West, while the labor force has found its way to the Gulf. The emigration of manpower, though considered negative by some economists, has resulted in tapping foreign cash. For instance, in 2004-05, India earned SR56.66 billion in remittances from overseas workers.
As a step forward, the Indian government has embarked on pre-employment orientation workshops and pre-departure training programs for those seeking jobs overseas. More and more Indians have been joining the list as their skills are in demand due to the aging population in the West and limited technical educational facilities in the Gulf.
The countries for which emigration clearance is still required are the Middle East countries such as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Syria, Jordan, Sudan, Iraq and Libya. The emigration clearance is also required for Malaysia, Afghanistan, Thailand, Indonesia, Brunei and Nigeria.
Although, India’s economy is much talked about today as one of the fastest growing, the flip side of the success story has been the lack of opportunity to its enormous young population.
As a result of large-scale industrial growth in various sectors, led by information technology, some Indians have returned to set up their businesses or take up new jobs in their home country. They are lured by many success stories but still given the size of the country, the reverse trend often referred as ‘brain-gain’ is just a trickle.
Considering employment challenges at home, the government is compelled to find ways to sell its manpower across the globe. There is a growing feeling that while the present economic boom has made the country strong, it has not addressed yet the problems of unemployed youth.
