Ministry of External Affairs Government of India

RAJYA SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.342
TO BE ANSWERED ON 13.12.2018

DECREASE IN FOREIGN JOBS FOR INDIANS

342. SHRI PARIMAL NATHWANI:

Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

(a) Whether it is a fact that foreign jobs for Indians have come down this year as compared to last year in Saudi Arabia, USA, UK, Australia, Singapore etc.;

(b) If so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor; and

(c) The manner in which Government proposes to address this problem?

ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
[GEN. (DR) V. K. SINGH (RETD)]

(a) to (c) The Government has reliable data in respect of Emigration Check Required (ECR) passport holding Indian workers, emigrating legally, to any of the 18 ECR countries as they need to take clearance and thus automatically get registered. Many countries do not share data with others, including Indian Missions abroad, on the figure of foreign employees in their country citing data privacy and similar laws. Therefore, it is difficult to come to the conclusion that foreign jobs for Indians have come down this year compared to last year.

However, a large number of Indian nationals holding ECR passports reportedly travel to the Gulf countries on tourist visa and get their visas converted to employment visa, thereby bypassing the e-Migrate system. These numbers as well as the number of Non ECR passport holders going to the ECR countries for employment are not reflected in the e-Migrate emigration clearance data. As per the information received from the Indian Missions in Gulf countries, the number of Indian workers in the these countries has gone up in the year 2017 compared to the corresponding numbers in 2015 except Kuwait, where the number has come down. A comparative statement showing the number of Indian workers in the Gulf countries in the years 2015 and 2017, for which full data is available through our Missions in these countries, are given below: