India to Talk with Saudi Arabia on “Nitaqat ” the new labor policy

30 March 2013
New Delhi

India is to discuss with Saudi Arabia, the gulf country’s new labor policy “Nitaqat” which if implemented is believed to hit hard Indian expatriate workers in the country, Chief Minister of India’s Southern state Kerala, Oommen Chandy said on Saturday. Saudi’s labour policy, known as Nitaqat, commands that five to 25 per cent staff of a private company, with minimum 49 employees, must be locals (Saudis).

Chandy said the State has already taken up the issue with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid. “We’ve approached central ministers hailing from Kerala, A.K. Antony, Vayalar Ravi and E. Ahamad, seeking New Delhi’s intervention so that Saudi Arabia takes a liberal view on the issue,” he said.The panic of losing jobs was further escalated when an Indian mission official in Riyadh, according to media reports, said a large number of Indian workers may visit the embassy following the deadline of “Nitaqat.” On the issue, India has a promise from Saudi Arabia that it will give maximum consideration to the Indian workers.

“India has conveyed its anxieties over the new Saudi labour law to Saudi’s Deputy Foreign Minister Prince Abdulaziz Bin Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud on the sidelines of the 11th Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) ministerial meeting at Dushanbe, Tajikistan,” a government official said here in New Delhi.

Source – http://www.kuna.net.kw/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2301407&Language=en

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