Indian Govt. to safeguard its blue collar employees in the Gulf

The recruitment process to become simpler, more systematic and transparent for employers as well as employees.

After making it compulsory for all nurses employed in the Gulf to be registered with the Ministry of External Affairs, the Indian Government is now gearing up to safeguard its blue collar employees in the area.

It will now be mandatory for foreign employers to register on the government’s eMigrate platform through the website and get clearance from the Indian diplomatic missions, which will clear the registration application. This can also be done through approved recruitment agents.
The new rule is applicable for workers who have the emigration clearance required (ECR) stamp on their passports

All foreign employers from now onwards will have to declare the terms and conditions of employment of each category at the time of applying for the demand registration. These terms and conditions of employment will act as a specimen contract and will form part of the employment contract at the time of actual recruitment.

The objective is to make the whole process of recruitment systematic, easier, transparent and convenient for both the employer and employee.

A few months back, the Government had issued an order that all recruitment of Indian nurses, for overseas assignments, will be done through government agencies, such as NORKA (Non Resident Keralites’ Affairs) and ODEPC (Overseas Development and Employment Promotion Consultants). The rule came into effect from 30 April, 2015.

It is expected that the new rule will, to a large extent, put an end to exploitation of Indian workers in the Gulf. Besides, all contractual agreements between the employer and the Indian workforce will be transparent.