The Government of India’s Skilled Workers Arrival Database for Employment Support (SWADES) initiative is conducting a skill mapping of the Indian workers who have returned from various countries, under the Vande Bharat Mission. The details of the workers who have been registered under SWADES have been assimilated into the Aatmanirbhar Skilled Employee Employer Mapping (ASEEM) portal, so that they are able to benefit from its support in terms of job opportunities.
As of last week, the Vande Bharat Mission has seen over 13,85,670 Indian workers returning to the country. While 11,89,077 returned by air, approx.1,28,165 came by land and 3,987 by sea.
Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan revealed in the Lok Sabha that of the total workers who had come back, over 84,000 came from the UAE, while over 50,000 returned from Oman and 49,000 from Saudi Arabia. About 44,000 have returned from Kuwait, more than 30,000 from Qatar and over 14,920 from Bahrain. Not all the workers have been rendered jobless. Some have returned because of the pandemic situation.
Out the over 11 lakh workers who have returned by flight, approx. four lakh were flown in by the Air India group, which has reportedly earned over Rs 2,550 crore in revenue from being part of the Vande Bharat Mission.
The details of the all the workers have been handed over to their respective state governments too. The good news is that many have started going back to the Gulf and other countries to resume their jobs.
