According to a recent statistical report from the past two years, people from Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, West Bengal, Punjab and Rajasthan are the top six states who have immigrated to the Gulf countries. During this two year the emigration from India has been increased by 24 percent.
The statistical report was released by the External Affairs Ministry during the session ‘Managing the Emigrtion Cycle: Streamlining and Supporting Indian Workers Emigration to ECR countries’ at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas which was held in Bengaluru from 7th to 9th of January 2017.
The reports stated that from 2013 to 2015, 90 percent of the people who emigrated from these states went to Gulf Countries.
At present there are about 8.54 million workers in 17 Emigration Check Required countries around the world. These Indian workers remit $69 billion annually, which constitutes 3 percent of the total GDP, according to MEA statistics, 40 percent of the total remittances come from the Gulf countries.
According to officials, many of the workers deals with unscrupulous recruitment agents. However a model contract is being drafted and a competitive labor agreements are being negotiated with Emigration Check Required countries to protect Indian workers.
“The people who work in domestic sectors are not covered under labor laws. In most of the countries, domestic workers are under the Ministry of Home Affairs. That is a very vulnerable section,” an official said.
The Ministry has asked states to set up an NRI department to protect the interests of their citizens.
AMandeep
