JEDDAH, 27 March 2007 — The Indian Diaspora can play a role in checking frauds perpetrated by so-called agents on workers seeking overseas jobs in India, Karti P. Chidambaram, lawyer and member of the All-India Congress Committee, said here over the weekend.
“You should open an office in Chennai and assist the authorities in exposing the job racket,” said Chidambaram, son of India’s Finance Minister P. Chidambarm, inaugurating Gulf Resident Indian Tamils Organization (GRIT), a new socio-economic organization of the community, at the Indian consulate premises.
He said he was making the suggestion, as he had come across cases where workers had been cheated by unscrupulous elements in the garb of agents.
“You must have an office in Chennai if you want to protect the interests of Tamils leaving for overseas jobs.”
Karti agreed with earlier speakers — Ambassador M.O.H. Farook and Consul General Ausaf Sayeed — who emphasized that while a new organization was welcome it ought to be one in the interest of all Indian expatriates. Right now, world attention is on India and China — two of the fastest growing economies. There is an ongoing race among multinational companies to have their presence in these two countries.
“In India, while there is unemployment among blue color workers the professional sector is underemployed. This is the right time for professionals and skilled workers to find jobs and get salaries of world standard back home,” Karti said.
“Problems of the expatriate community are the same, whether they belong to a particular region or speak a state language. It also becomes easy for the diplomatic missions to tackle the problems of a single community than if they are divided into different organizations,” the ambassador said.
Farook outlined the grievances of the expatriate community here and urged Karti to impress on the authorities back home to help redress them. Saudi and Gulf returnees are facing problems like relocating themselves back home and seeking admission for their children in India’s professional institutions,” he said.
The consul general hoped that the new organization would serve the interest of the community as outlined in their objectives — guidance, gains and growth.
Presentations were given by GRIT office-bearers – O.P.R. Kutty, Abdul Malik and K.G. Guna on the projects and plans of the new organization.
