Members of the Indian community and social organizations have criticised the decision by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs to levy an additional SR8 on all consular services and the attestation of documents starting from Monday, Nov. 16. They say the extra charge will hurt poor Indians the most. The Indian Embassy has defended the move, arguing that the extra money raised will be used to set up a special fund to help needy Indians living in Saudi Arabia. According to a press release from the Indian Embassy, the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs will set up a special fund called the Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF). The ICWF will be funded through the extra charge on services including: consular, passport, visa, miscellaneous and attestation of documents by the Embassy of India in Riyadh and at its Consulate General in Jeddah, the press statement said. R. Muraleedharan, president, Riyadh Provincial Committee, Federation of Keralite Associations in Saudi Arabia (FOKASA), an umbrella organization of about 22 social groups, rejected the idea. “The hike is considered by many Indians as anti-people, and therefore has to be withdrawn,” said Murleedharan. He said FOKASA is calling a meeting of all socio-cultural organizations in Riyadh on Monday to discuss the issue. The meeting will take at 8 P.M. at Half Moon Auditorium, Batha. “On behalf of FOKASA, I request representatives of all socio-cultural organizations in Riyadh to attend this meeting,” he said. The Trivandrum Expatriate Association (TEXA) appealed to the Overseas Ministry to reconsider levying this additional charge on the consular services, which they said will be an extra financial burden on the Indian nationals in Saudi Arabia, particularly menial job workers. “We express our serious concern over the Ministry's decision to levy an additional SR8 on consular services as part of raising money for the welfare fund,” said Dr. S. Abdul Azeez, the TEXA president. He said about 80 percent of the 1.8 million Indian workers in Saudi Arabia are low income earners. “Levying an SR8 surcharge will be a burden on the majority of Indians, who are agricultural laborers, house drivers and other unskilled workers”. He said during the past five years the cost of living has increased considerably in Saudi Arabia. This cut directly into the savings of many menial workers who are struggling to make ends meet. Sashikumar Pilla, the TEXA secretary, said the existing Welfare Fund at the Indian Embassy is of no use to distressed Indians in Riyadh. He said that the government of India has been earning a lot of foreign exchange through the remittances of Indian expatriates living in Saudi Arabia. Despite the international financial crisis there was little impact on the Indian economy and it was due to the Indian workers' remittances to the country, he argued. “The government of India does not reach out to Indian workers in the Kingdom in the case of traffic accidents, when they lose their jobs or have other problems. In most such cases the helping hand comes only from the social organizations that are more committed to reaching out to distressed workers than the government missions in Saudi Arabia,” he said. However, according to published reports, the new fund will help distressed Indian workers, particularly domestic workers in trouble, by offering board and lodging. The fund will also help to pay for medical care for those in need, free air-tickets to stranded workers and initial legal assistance for those in a legal wrangle. There will also be assistance to help send home the remains of those who have died and been abandoned by their sponsors.
