The Indian community has lauded Indian Ambassador Talmiz Ahmad's agenda of labor welfare and his proposal to implement a “pre-recruitment attestation” scheme, which he expressed in a recent interview with Saudi Gazette. Ahmad said the problems of Indian workers and their solutions top his agenda and a pre-recruitment attestation scheme – basically a scrutiny process of Indian workers before they are recruited here from India – is under examination. “There is an immediate need to implement certain corrective measures as indicated by the Indian Ambassador, including having in place a labor agreement between India and Saudi Arabia,” said Azhar Ali Zai, an Indian expatriate in Jeddah. He said that Saudi Arabia is one of the 18 countries, where the Indian Community Welfare Fund has been established for providing food, shelter, repatriation assistance and emergency relief to overseas Indians in distress. There are more than 1.8 million Indian workers living in Saudi Arabia, where violation of labor rules is rampant. Duplication of employment contracts after arriving in the Kingdom, lack of medical coverage, deduction of salary for Iqama and accommodation without proper amenities are common complaints reported by workers. Mohammed Saleem, an Indian expatriate who worked in India as a mechanic prior to coming to Saudi Arabia six months ago, said he came to the Kingdom on a mechanics visa but on his arrival in Dammam, he was told that he had to work as a driver and maintenance cleaner with a salary less than that agreed upon in India. “I came to the Kingdom on a work visa that I obtained through a recruitment agency in India, where I met the manager of a Saudi company, who told me that I was being hired as a mechanic on a salary of SR1,400,” said Saleem, adding that “everything was settled in India and an agreement was signed with the manager of the company who had come to India with work visas”. “However, upon my arrival here, I was shocked when the manager told me to sign an agreement saying that I was being hired as a driver and maintenance worker on a salary of SR900. When I asked him about the contract that was signed in India, the manager said that (the contract) was not ‘from our company' and that ‘we are not giving you more than this',” said Saleem. “I had no choice but to do what they asked me to as I did not have any proof of the other contract,” he added. Though Saleem worked in the company for six months, he was not satisfied with the job and the pay. He did not get his salary of four months, which further frustrated him. He finally appealed to the Indian consulate for help so that he could go home. “Though the consulate helped me a lot in settling the issue with my company, they, however, could provide me with only limited support in the whole matter. There should be an authority in the consulate that can officially help us against such cheating sponsors,” he said. “It would be great if our ambassador succeeds in implementing the pre-recruitment attestation scheme that would go a long way in protecting Indian workers from dishonest sponsors,” Saleem added. Saudi Gazette spoke to K. K. Vijayan, welfare consul at the Indian consulate, regarding Saleem's case and the larger problem of bogus recruitment agencies in India. “Saleem approached the consulate for help and we did whatever was possible. However, the main problem is that sometimes workers buy visas from recruitment companies in India without an inquiry, which creates problems when they arrive here and are cheated by their sponsors or have to sign a new contract with a reduced salary,” said Vijayan. He said if a distressed Indian worker is able to provide proper documents of recruitment and the original work contract that was signed with the company in India, then, the consulate can “easily work on it”. “I fully support and welcome the Ambassador's proposal of a pre-recruitment scheme, and hope that to some extent such problems are solved,” he said. Musameem Aldeen Ansari, an Indian expat in Jeddah, said there is a need to “control and restrict recruitment agencies in India because it is from there that the workers obtain incorrect information about overseas jobs and salaries”. “What the Ambassador wishes to implement would be excellent for labor class workers from India. However, the Saudi government should also take some steps in this regard so that all foreign workers are protected, and not just those from one country,” said Yusuf Frosh, an Indian working in Jeddah.
