Saudi Arabia asks India to raise awareness among its labourers

Lalit K Jha

Washington, Apr 22 PTI) Noting that Indian labourers play
a key role in its economic development, Saudi Arabia Thursday
asked New Delhi to raise awareness among its workers about
their rights and obligations, before they leave for the
kingdom for work, in order to protect them from exploitation.

"We urge the Government of India to raise the awareness
of its workers before they leave the country for Saudi Arabia,
to disseminate information to the worker what are their
obligations and what are their rights," the Saudi Labour
Minister Abdulwahed K Al-Humaid told the Press Trust of India
in an exclusive interview.
Al-Humaid was in Washington to attend the first ever
meeting of Labour and Employment ministers of the G-20
countries.
The two-day conference concluded on Wednesday.
The Saudi minister said Indian labourers rank number one
in Saudi Arabia in terms of number of workers.
"We have more than two million Indian workers," he said,
adding that this is mutually beneficial for both the
countries.
"On the one hand Indian workers are contributing to the
economic development of Saudi Arabia and we appreciate that.
On the other hand, we are offering job opportunities to two
million Indian people. Therefore, we are benefiting the Indian
economy and relieving the unemployment problem in India,"
Al-Humaid said.
The minister said that some workers do not know their
rights and thus they are exploited and also put the blame on
the Indian agencies that hire people in India for this kind of
exploitations.
"Before workers come to Saudi Arabia, they sign contract
with the Indian agencies. Agencies give them false
information. They promise them that they will give them
certain salary. And these agencies sign different contract
with employer. So some of the disputes come because we have
two contracts," he observed.
"Whenever I meet Ambassadors from the sending countries,
I urge them to raise the awareness of their workers about
their rights, before they come to Saudi Arabia," he said.
He said that the his Ministry prints broachers in local
languages of these countries and request these embassies in
Saudi Arabia to distribute them to their people before they
come to Saudi Arabia.
"We do not want them to be subject to exploitation due to
lack of information or misunderstanding. Because if I am an
owner of a factory and I sign a contract that the salary for
example is 1,000 Riyal, but the Indian workers sign with the
Indian agency another contract stating that the salary is
2,000 Riyal," he said.

"But regardless of the reasons of the exploitation, we do
not accept it. We take it very seriously. We help them to
solve their problems and we appreciate their contribution to
the Saudi economy and we feel that we are also contributing to
solving the employment problem of India," Al-Humaid said.
The minister said the Government of Saudi Arabia takes
every compliant about mistreatment or exploitation of any
labourer very seriously and has put in place effective
mechanism to bring to book the wrongdoers.
"We do not want to see any worker either Saudi or
non-Saudi to be mistreated. Therefore we have labour dispute
committees in Saudi Arabia to solve labour issues," he said.
When asked about frequent news reports on exploitation of
Indian workers in Saudi Arabia, the minister said the media
sometimes exaggerate such cases.
"Let me tell you something, when we have one individual
with a problem, the media sometimes exaggerate. But for us
even it is one individual, it is too much," he observed.
Al-Humaid said his Ministry of Labour has created a
separate Department to address the complaints of expatriate
labourer community.
"The function of this department is to receive any
complaints from expatriates, from workers who are coming from
outside Saudi Arabia to help them solve their problems," he
said. PTI LKJ
MYR