Hopeful start

Close to seven lakh Indian maids, drivers and other domestic workers employed by Saudi Arabians are heaving a collective sigh of relief: their exploitation, overwork, underpayment and harassment may come to an end.

The labour contract agreement signed by Saudi Arabia with India last week is a major achievement for Indian workers. Domestic workers make up around a quarter of the 28 lakh Indians working in the kingdom. They are the most exploited, underpaid and harassed segment of Indian expatriates in Saudi Arabia.

Indians, who constitute 23 per cent of the foreign workforce in the country, are the largest expatriate community in Saudi Arabia.

The agreement on labour cooperation for domestic service workers’ recruitment signed by Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi and Saudi Labour Minister Adel Fakieh in New Delhi on January 2 aims to secure for the Indian workers several key rights. The thrust of the agreement is that there will be a formal, written contract between the employer and the domestic worker that will specify the terms of employment and protect the rights of both the employee and the employer. There will be a mechanism that will ensure a minimum monthly salary, a weekly holiday, paid annual leave and healthcare for the workers. There will also be a grievance redressal mechanism and 24-hour helpline. Neither the employer nor the recruiter will have the right to cut the worker’s salary.

Only recruiting agencies recognised by the Saudi government will be allowed to recruit Indian domestic workers. There is a provision in the agreement for issuing exit visas to the workers in the case of an emergency.

A joint committee of senior Indian and Saudi officials will be set up soon to finalise the procedures for hiring domestic workers. “The agreement will go a long way in protecting the interests of Indian domestic workers in Saudi Arabia,” Vayalar Ravi told the media after he signed the deal with Adel Fakieh.

The idea of such an agreement came up during Ravi’s visit to Riyadh last April at the height of the controversy over the Nitaqat labour reforms. (The Nitaqat programme that required all Saudi employers to have a minimum percentage of Saudis in their workforce was considered a watershed reform. The reforms have been largely beneficial to Indians. Although it resulted in around 1.5 lakh workers having to return to India, some 14 lakh undocumented workers got work and residency permits.)

Adel Fakieh said the five-year agreement would regulate contractual relations between Saudi employers and their domestic workers and protect the rights of both. He pointed out that the agreement provided for action against recruitment agencies violating the laws and a mechanism to prevent cheating by middlemen.

Fakieh is considered the architect of the massive labour reforms introduced in Saudi Arabia, especially the Nitaqat, and regulation of the employment of immigrant labour. The agreement between India and Saudi Arabia is a continuation of this labour regulation process. Saudi Arabia has signed an agreement with the Philippines. Filipinos are among the largest foreign workforces in the kingdom. The accord with India is the second such labour contract agreement.

A comprehensive labour accord could be the logical extension of the agreement on domestic workers. Such an accord will impact roughly 30 lakh Indians.

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