UAE | Employment
India plans to train workers headed for Gulf
India has chalked out a pre-departure orientation programme for workers going abroad to help them sharpen their skills, said a senior official from the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs.
- By Sunita Menon, Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:34 May 3, 2009
Dubai: India has chalked out a pre-departure orientation programme for workers going abroad to help them sharpen their skills, said a senior official from the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs.
The programme will be launched in eight Indian states from where high numbers of workers go abroad. Each state is expected to train 5,000 to 10,000 workers in the first phase.
Speaking to Gulf News from New Delhi, the official said that Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi has also met officials from the eight Indian states.
"The programme will be launched in partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry [CII]. It will be held in phases. Phase one will cover states like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Haryana. Other states will follow in phase two," official said.
"The ministry will cover 75 per cent to the cost incurred in launching the programme. The training will last for two weeks per batch of 15 people."
According to the ministry, about 550,000 skilled, unskilled or semi-skilled workers leave Indian shores every year. The new initiative follows the announcement by Dr Ali Abdullah Al Ka'abi, Minister of Labour, according to which Asian unskilled labourers should have basic English language skills and knowledge of the country's rules and regulations. Workers who fail to fulfil the criteria will not be allowed to work in the UAE.
The new rule is not applicable to workers from the Arab world and will mainly concern Asians.
An agreement on labour exchange is also on the anvil between the UAE and countries like Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal and the Philippines sometime next month.
The Indian minister has also discussed an MoU pertaining to labour issues with the UAE government.
Indian labourers who spoke to Gulf News expressed satisfaction with India's plan. They, however, said that both India and the UAE should work jointly on wiping out unscrupulous recruitment agents.
Siddhu Ravinder Singh, a foreman based in Dubai, said: "A majority of labour related problems in this country are created by unscrupulous agents who make tall promises to labourers prior to departure.
"When the labourers reach here they end up being fooled ... [and] accepting whatever is handed to them in terms of salary instead of going back."
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