Labour woes: India plans pacts with UAE

To check ill-treatment of Indian workers abroad, government said on Wednesday it is working on the issue of signing bilateral agreements with major labour-receiving countries.

Prosecution has been launched against offenders, including agencies recruiting people with false promises and sending them to countries in the Gulf and West Asia for employment, it said.

The government has also taken up with concerned countries complaints about ill-treatment of workers by their employers, Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi said during Question Hour in the Lok Sabha.

Replying to queries, he said nearly 2,000 Indians were repatriated from Oman this year for overstaying after expiry of their visas. A large section of the people going to these countries for employmentLabour  was

travelling on tourist visas and ended up returning home, Ravi said.

India and the UAE, he said, would be signing an agreement to ensure protection of workers, better living conditions and to check fradulent methods of recruitment.

Asked if the government was considering providing incentives to Indians working in the Gulf and together remitting billions of dollars to the country, the minister said the issue of setting up a corpus fund for their welfare after they returned home would be examined.

"The ministry is pursuing signing of bilateral memoranda of understanding with major labour-receiving countries for protection and welfare of our workers," the minister added.

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