Replying to a question in the Lok Sabha, Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi said that as per provision of the contracts, Saudi authorities can employ a Saudi nurse as and when available in place of a foreign recruit after payment of legal dues to such nurses.

"The Saudi side has not informed about the number of such nurses who might have returned to India," he said.

The minister said the Indian mission in Saudi Arabia has taken up cases of a few nurses with the Saudi government on humanitarian grounds.

"The Saudi side takes such decisions in line with the nationalisation policy of the government to provide jobs to unemployed Saudi citizens and in accordance with the provisions contained in the contract," Ravi added.