India, Saudi Arabia discuss Indian workers' problems

NEW DELHI: India and Saudi Arabia today began talks on entering into a pact to streamline the employment process of Indian workers in the Gulf country.

Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi deliberated on the issue during his meeting with Saudi Arabian Labour Minister Adel Bin Muhammad Fakieh.

Saudi Arbia has been a favourite destination for employment for skilled and un-skilled Indian workers whose number has grown to approximately 1.8 million in the country.

Describing the deliberations as a "good beginning", Ravi said the meeting primarily focussed on finding ways to deal with the problems being faced by Indian workers in the country.

There has been increasing complaints of exploitation of Indian workers by recruitment agencies in the Gulf region.

Fakieh said the purpose of the meeting was to enter into a dialogue and work on an MoU between the two countries so as to address the "root of the problems" and "ensure a smooth and healthy relationship between employers and employees in both the countries.

"The major problem that we have faced in recent time is to track certain employees who register certain qualifications and vocational skills but when they landed up at their workplaces, they didn't turn out to be same. So, we wish to develop some sort of system to test and certify," he said.