Complaints by Indian workers working in Gulf on the rise: govt

Complaints from Indian workers in some Gulf countries have shown an upward trend with the highest number those in Qatar in the last one year, the government told Rajya Sabha.

13,610 grievances have been registered till date this year as against 12,720 recorded last year with the maximum of 2991 coming from Qatar and another 2973 from Saudi Arabia.

There has been a whopping rise in complaints by Indian workers from Malaysia from 253 last year to 1650 this year so far while the rising trend is also seen in case of workers in Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Oman shows a declining trend. There has been no such complaint from Iraq, Afghanistan, Indonesia, South Sudan, Syria and Thailand.

In a written reply in Rajya Sabha, Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Sushma Swaraj said violations of the Emigration Act/Rules is dealt with seriously and diplomatic initiatives are also taken up with host countries to extend the protection of labour laws to the workers in the informal sector.

Compalints received from Indian workers, from time to time, are generally in the nature of non-payment, delayed payment or underpayment of salaries, long working hours, inadequate living conditions, physical harassment, non-renewal of visa and labour card on time.