The new government in India led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is focusing on Indian welfare measures for Indian expatriate workers in the Kingdom and other Gulf countries.

Unlike the previous governments, the current ruling party has effected some changes in the official mechanism at the highest level with Sushma Swaraj, the minister of Foreign Affairs also looking after the portfolio of the overseas Indian Affairs ministry which used to have a separate minister in the past.

Swaraj is seriously focusing upon issues pertaining to Indian workers in the region. Recently, she conducted a meeting of Indian envoys in New Delhi which was also attended by Hamid Ali Rao, Indian ambassador in Riyadh.

Earlier, she met with parliamentarians from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh state in a meeting attended by 17 MPs (members of Parliament) mostly from Telangana region. The MPs drew the minister’s attention to the issues of Indian expatriate workers in the Gulf which dominated the meeting, according to sources.

The parliamentarians demanded that Indian diplomatic missions in the Indian consulate in Jeddah and Indian Embassy in Riyadh be strengthened to expedite services to the Indian expatriate community living and working in the Kingdom.

They also demanded that the Indian diplomatic missions deploy permanent staff in highly populated areas of Dammam, Qassim and Abha which have significant numbers of Indian expatriates.

MPs Asaduddin Owaisee (Hyderabad), AP Jitender Reddy (Mahbubnagar), K. Kavita (Nizamabad) B.Vinod Kumar (Karimnagar) B. Suman (Peddapally), B.V. Patil (Zaheerabad), Bandaru Dattarteya (Secunderabad) and Renuka Choudary were among those who attended the meeting, according to sources. Sources told Arab News over the phone that the minister has informally agreed to establish a special cell to look after Gulf NRI (non-resident Indian) issues and has also informed parliamentarians that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is paying special attention to Gulf NRI welfare issues.

Asaduddin Owaisee has requested the minister to appeal to the Saudi authorities to establish an Indian community school in Makkah and a university for Indian expatriate students in the Kingdom. Owaisee also stressed the need to expand insurance coverage to NRI workers.

Furthermore, he demanded that the Indian government enhance employment rehabilitation schemes for returning Indian expatriates and urged a prompt settlement of the Hyderabad Rubat case in Makkah, according to sources.

The Parliamentarians also demanded that procedures to repatriate dead bodies from the Kingdom be expedited and expressed their concern over the delays for various reasons.

In addition, the parliamentarians demanded that visits to hospitals, prisons and deportation centers be facilitated to help Indians in various regions of the Kingdom, said sources.

There are nearly 500,000 Indian expatriates hailing from Telangana region working in the Kingdom.