India holding back social security contributions
The Indian authorities have not remitted the social security contributions running into millions of dollars by Sri Lankans who worked in India for years in various sectors, officials said yesterday.
Sequent to several complaints by Sri Lankan workers, the Labour Ministry initiated a dialogue with the Indian authorities
Sequent to several complaints by Sri Lankan workers the Labour Ministry initiated a dialogue with the Indian authorities two weeks ago to work out a mechanism to resolve this longstanding problem. Ministry Secretary W.J.L.U. Wijeyaweera, who discussed this matter with his Indian counterpart said, there were around 600 Sri Lankans working in India in various sectors such as the apparel industry.
He said contributions made by them and their employers as a percentage of their salaries to various social security schemes had not been remitted to Sri lanka by the Indian authorities. However, Mr. Wijeyaweera said there had been no such delay when remitting similar contributions by Indians employed in Sri Lanka.
My negotiations with Indian officials were successful. We will work out a bilateral arrangement to address this problem. We acted on this matter after we received several complaints from Sri Lankans working in India
“My negotiations with Indian officials were successful. We will work out a bilateral arrangement to address this problem. We acted on this matter after we received several complaints from Sri Lankans working in India,” he said.
When asked about the total number of Indians employed in Sri Lanka, he said a survey conducted by his ministry had identified as many as 3,000 Indians at 12 companies.
“But the actual number may be more than 10,000,” Mr. Wijayaweera said.
When asked about the Indians working as casual labourers in Sri Lanka’s agriculture sector, he said this matter was also discussed with the Indian authorities.
“Indian officials wanted us to have our own mechanism for it. It is very important. We only issue visas for anyone visiting the country. Our ministry will take this up with the other ministers for the purpose of introducing a system to control it,” he said.