Kerala CM Oommen Chandy seeks Centre’s help to rehabilitate Gulf return Indians
10 Jan 2015 12:33 AM GMT
Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Friday sought the Centre’s support to rehabilitate Indians who have returned from Saudi Arabia after change in laws there.
“The trends indicate that the employment opportunities in the Gulf sector may diminish and reforms like ‘Nitaqat’ may force the Indians to return to the home country. We must think about how we can rehabilitate those who come back to India and in what way we can make use of their expertise,” Chandy said here at the 13th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas here.
The ‘Nitaqat’ law makes it mandatory for companies in Saudi Arabia to hire one Saudi national for every 10 migrant workers. Over 2 million Indians are currently working in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi government was implementing the Nitaqat law to cut unemployment in the country.
“We are bound to obey the laws of the land where we live, but at the same time we have to protect the genuine interest of the Indian diaspora also,” he said. Although the Kerala government has chalked out a rehabilitation package, however, it lacks resources to implement it, he said.
“We anticipate a good support from the government to rehabilitate the returnees in a proper and useful way,”he said.
“The trends indicate that the employment opportunities in the Gulf sector may diminish and reforms like ‘Nitaqat’ may force the Indians to return to the home country. We must think about how we can rehabilitate those who come back to India and in what way we can make use of their expertise,” Chandy said here at the 13th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas here.
The ‘Nitaqat’ law makes it mandatory for companies in Saudi Arabia to hire one Saudi national for every 10 migrant workers. Over 2 million Indians are currently working in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi government was implementing the Nitaqat law to cut unemployment in the country.
“We are bound to obey the laws of the land where we live, but at the same time we have to protect the genuine interest of the Indian diaspora also,” he said. Although the Kerala government has chalked out a rehabilitation package, however, it lacks resources to implement it, he said.
“We anticipate a good support from the government to rehabilitate the returnees in a proper and useful way,”he said.
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