By IANS
New Delhi : The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) is organising a conference here Sep 10-11 with Indian envoys in countries with significant Indian presence to discuss policy measures for safeguarding the interests of Indian workers abroad.
“MOIA is organising a conference with our envoys in 10 countries to discuss policy measures for protecting the interests of Indian workers abroad,” a senior MOIA official told IANS.
“Indian envoys to the six GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries, Malaysia, Jordan, Yemen and Libya are going to attend the conference,” he said.
The GCC countries are the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait. There are around five million Indians in the region, many of them working as contract labourers in the booming construction industry there.
In Malaysia, people of Indian origin constitute around eight percent of the country’s population of around 24 million. Many of them had migrated from India to work in the rubber plantations in the Southeast Asian nation.
Jordan, Yemen and Libya too have large numbers of Indian workers.
“At the conference, we will discuss measures like developing a standardised work contract for Indian workers abroad and special steps for protection of women emigrants to those countries,” the MOIA official said.
Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi will inaugurate the conference Monday.
Last year, a similar conference of envoys was organised by the MOIA at Doha in Qatar.