UP wakes up to protect overseas migrant workers
ALLAHABAD: Uttar Pradesh, which has the highest number of migrant workers in the country heading to foreign shores for a living, is set to launch a campaign to check exploitation of its workforce at the hands of agents, middlemen and employers.
To regulate hiring process of workers, the BJP government has decided to speed up the process of setting up more branches of Uttar Pradesh Financial Corporation Overseas Manpower Recruitment Agency (UPFCOMRA) – the official overseas recruitment agency that helps people aspiring for an overseas job.
In view of complaints of harassment and large number of overseas employees from UP in emigration check required (ECR) countries, the UP government – on the insistence of the ministry of external affairs – has appointed the Uttar Pradesh Financial Corporation to work as recruiting agent for overseas employment.
The government is making efforts to arrange overseas employment to maximum number of people from UP.
THE NEED
The initiative was launched following rising incidents of exploitation of migrant workers from UP.
Workers complained they were cheated by agents and middlemen and were sent abroad on fake documents. They claimed their employers took away their passports on arrival and refused to allow them to return home and made them work underground after the expiry of their work permits.
Mohd Asif (name changed) of Allahabad, who worked at a automobile warehouse in Saudi Arabia for two years before returning home, said: “Owner of the warehouse and his son would spit on Indian workers and even threaten to get them arrested on false charges.”
“Though they did not take away my passport, I soon learnt that without written permission from them, I could not return home. So, I came back on the pretext of my father’s illness and did not go back there,” he added.
“Your life can become a nightmare if you do not have proper documents,” said Imran Ahmed of Pratapgarh, who returned from UAE after working there for four years.
“As most workers are not very educated, they end up getting trapped, not even knowing whom to approach for help,” he said.
Imran’s views are backed by the fact that as many as 7,432 complaints were received from Indians employed in Gulf countries in 2015 alone, most of these related to exploitation and torture by employers.
According to the information provided to Lok Sabha, the highest number of complaints received by Indian missions till November 2015 included 3,236 from Kuwait and 2,472 from Saudi Arabia.
Other countries from where complaints were received included Bahrain (806), Oman (413), Qatar (378), UAE (126) and Jordan (1).
India has signed MoUs with six Gulf countries – UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia – to ensure that the host country will take measures to protect workers in the organised sector and the terms of employment will be in conformity with the laws of both the countries.
The external affairs ministry has also set up a 24x7 helpline (Overseas Workers Resource Centre) in Gurgaon which provides information and guidance on problems pertaining to overseas employment.
The Uttar Pradesh government has also decided to take proactive steps to safeguard the interests of workers from UP who send back money to their families in India thereby helping national and state economies.
The remittances sent home by Indian workers abroad went up from $15.8 billion in 2001-2002 to $70 billion in 2011-2012 with UPites having the lion’s share.
THE MISSION
“The state government has decided to launch an awareness campaign to facilitate safe and legal travel abroad for work. Audio and visual messages will be aired on Doordarshan, private TV and FM radio channels besides hoardings across the state designed on specifications provided by the ministry of external affairs,” said CS Bagga, chief manager of the NRI cell of UPFC Recruitment Agency, Kanpur.
In a missive to managing director of UPFC and all divisional commissioners and district magistrates, principal secretary, NRI department, Alok Sinha has directed for the use of these modes besides resources of information and public relations department to make aspiring workers aware of the steps to secure job and work permits.
The order says hoardings should be put up at district headquarters and important public places highlighting messages and tips for safe migration.
Thousands of workers from UP work abroad. In 2014, UP was the top contributor with 2,30,000 migrants. In 2015, UP again topped by sending 30% of the total overseas migrants. It was followed by Bihar (14%) and Tamil Nadu (9%). “We have 2-2.5 lakh workers from UP going abroad annually. Government agencies are mandatory for female workers but for men, even private agents are registered and authorised. We try to ensure that the entire process takes place in accordance with the law,” said Bagga.
He said the government had a fixed fee of Rs 20,000 as overseas recruitment service charge per candidate. “However, workers get fleeced by fake agents and middlemen who charge in lakhs of rupees. We offer jobs only through authenticated employers and even vet their employment contracts to ensure no exploitation takes place,” he added.
CHANGE IN OVERSEAS MIGRATION TREND
Director of GB Pant Social Science Institute prof Badri Narayan said the steps were important as the migration trend had experienced a relative shift.
“The trend of workers seeking jobs abroad has shifted from prosperous states such as Kerala and Karnataka to poorer states like UP and Bihar due to population growth in these states. UP, Bihar, Haryana and Rajasthan accounted for over 3,70,000 emigration clearances in 2014. Bulk of these clearances were for the Middle East region,” said prof Narayan.
Most of these workers find jobs in Saudi Arabia, which is the top choice, followed by UAE, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Malaysia, Bahrain and Jordan. “Though all districts of UP contribute in terms of migrant workers, Azamgarh, Mau, Meerut, Jaunpur, Muzaffarnagar, Allahabad and Pratapgarh have a large number of people working abroad,” prof Narayan said.