Abu Dhabi: Indian missions in the UAE will make all efforts to reach out to thousands of workers to enrol them in an ambitious Pension and Life Insurance Fund (PLIF) sponsored by the Government of India, a top Indian diplomat told Gulf News on Thursday.

A delegation from the Ministry of Indian Overseas Affairs (MOIA) is visiting the UAE early next month to format a strategy to promote the scheme among the workers, M.K. Lokesh Indian Ambassador to the UAE, said.

He said Bank of Baroda, the only Indian bank with a fully fledged banking operation in the UAE, has been selected as the bank for the scheme.

The Dubai-based Indian Workers Resource Centre (IWRC), a support centre for Indian expatriates, will also have a major role in the scheme, Lokesh said.

The officials from the visiting delegation and Indian missions in the UAE will discuss the enrolment strategy with Bank of Baroda and IWRC.

As Gulf News reported on July 24 the voluntary scheme, which offers three important benefits, will help skilled and unskilled workers save money for their old age, to have financial means when they go back home and life insurance cover for Rs100,000 (Dh6,500) during their work abroad.

About 65 per cent of more than two million Indians in the UAE are blue-collar workers.

Workers between the age of 18 and 50 who hold an Emigration Clearance Required (ECR) passports are eligible to enrol in the scheme.

India issues ECR passports to those who have not passed matriculation (Grade 10).

The Indian Government will provide a contribution of up to Rs2,000 per year for male workers and Rs3,000 per year for women workers for up to either five years or until the worker returns home, whichever is earlier.

A worker with a bank account has to contribute a minimum Rs5,000 per annum towards the scheme.

Its pension fund requires a contribution of between Rs1,000 and Rs12,000 per annum and the return and resettlement fund requires a minimum Rs4,000.

They will derive corresponding benefits when they go back home and during their old age.

K.V. Rama Moorthy, CEO of Bank of Baroda in the GCC, told Gulf News on Thursday that the bank is awaiting further details from the Indian government, including the number of workers to be enrolled in the scheme.

“Accordingly we will make the arrangements for enrolment.”

The ambassador said the officials will discuss the best ways to reach out to the workers. The IWRC has already been conducting four to five general awareness camps every month for workers in labour accommodation.

“We will try to utilise those venues also for promoting the pension scheme.”