MRWs for employment in six Gulf countries is same now as it was in 2019-20: Govt to Parl

New Delhi: The Indian government informed that the Minimum Referral Wages (MRWs) for employment in gulf workers remains the same. The Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar mentioned in the Parliament on Wednesday that "for a brief period of ten months, the MRWs were adjusted downwards, due to the COVID situation, to protect our employees in the six Gulf countries."

While answering a question of Congress Lok Sabha MPs Mohammed Faizal P. P and K. Muraleedharan that whether the government has reduced the MRWs applicable to Indian workers in the Gulf and what could be the reasons, the minister assured that "As the labour market stabilized, the situation was reviewed in consultation with our

Embassies in the Gulf. It was decided that the earlier MRWs be made applicable once more with effect from July 15 of this year."

There are nearly 90 lakh Indian workers and employees living in the Gulf countries who will be benefitted from the decision, based on data from the International Labour Organization.

In August last year, a group of around forty Indian construction workers staged a hunger strike in Kraljevo in Serbia, demanding to be paid. In addition to not receiving months' worth of wages from their employer, they had been working 10-12 hours a day without proper food or access to healthcare were living in cramped, unhygienic quarters during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Moreover, the illegal practice of denying workers the money that they are rightfully owed- has dramatically increased during the pandemic crisis. In addition to the incomplete payment of wages, employees have to deal with job loss, non-payment of termination benefits, poor working conditions, and hurried repatriation without the chance to register their grievances.

At the same time, reportedly the Indian government has also offered various resources for those who emigrate for work by registration portals, insurance schemes, awareness programs and helplines. They are also provided by a list of registered recruiting agents across the country.