Committee on External Affairs (2018-19)
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COMMITTEE ON EXTERNAL AFFAIRS 23 (2018-19) SIXTEENTH LOK SABHA MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS ‘ISSUES RELATING TO MIGRANT WORKERS INCLUDING APPROPRIATE LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK AND SKILL DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES FOR PROSPECTIVE EMIGRANTS.’ TWENTY THIRD REPORT LOK SABHA SECRETARIAT NEW DELHI JANUARY, 2019/ Pausa, 1940 (Saka) TWENTY THIRD REPORT COMMITTEE ON EXTERNAL AFFAIRS (2018-19) (SIXTEENTH LOK SABHA) MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS ‘ISSUES RELATING TO MIGRANT WORKERS INCLUDING APPROPRIATE LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK AND SKILL DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES FOR PROSPECTIVE EMIGRANTS.’ Presented to Lok Sabha on 2 January, 2019 Presented to Rajya Sabha on 2 January, 2019 LOK SABHA SECRETARIAT NEW DELHI January, 2019/Pausa 1940 (Saka) COEA NO. 138 Price : Rs. ................ © 2019 by Lok Sabha Secretariat Published under Rule 382 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha (__________Edition) and Printed by CONTENTS COMPOSITION OF THE COMMITTEE (2018-19) INTRODUCTION Chapter 1: EMIGRATION FROM INDIA 1 I. Profiling of Indian Emigrants: Trends, Policy and Governance II. Migrant Workers: Most Vulnerable Emigrants Chapter 2: PROBLEMS & CHALLENGES FACED BY MIGRANT WORKERS 9 I. Key issues & concerns of legal migrant workers A. Phase I: Pre-Departure B. Phase-II: Country of destination C. Phase III: Return & Resettlement II. Problems of Irregular/illegal migrant workers III. Gulf Region: Major recipient of Indian Emigrant workers CHAPTER 3: GENDER & MIGRATION 51 CHAPTER 4: INSTITUTIONAL & LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK 56 I. Institutional & Administrative Framework A. Specific Initiatives/ Programmes B. Grievance Redressal Mechanism C. Media Awareness Campaigns II. Legislative Framework CHAPTER 5: BILATERAL & GLOBAL ARCHITECTURE 78 I. Bilateral Social Security Agreements II. Global Compact on Safe, Secure & Orderly Migration. Appendices I. Minutes of the Thirteenth Sitting of the Committee (2016-17) held on 11.4.2017 87 II. Minutes of the Sixth Sitting of the Committee (2017-18) held on 22.11.2017 89 III. Minutes of the Fifteenth Sitting of the Committee (2017-18) held on 2.4.2018 92 IV. Minutes of the Eighteenth Sitting of the Committee (2017-18) held on 18.7.2018 95 V. Minutes of the Nineteenth Sitting of the Committee (2017-18) held on 2.8.2018 98 VI. Minutes of the Sixth Sitting of the Committee (2018-19) held on 27.12.2018 101 COMPOSITION OF THE COMMITTEE ON EXTERNAL AFFAIRS (2018-19) 1. Dr. Shashi Tharoor, Chairperson Lok Sabha 2. Shri Sirajuddin Ajmal 3. Shri Gurjeet Singh Aujla 4. Prof. (Dr.) Sugata Bose 5. Shri Ranjit Singh Brahmpura 6. Shri Ramen Deka 7. Shri Arka Keshari Deo 8. Shri Rahul Gandhi 9. Prof. Richard Hay 10. Shri Raghav Lakhanpal 11. Shri Jagdambika Pal 12. Shri P.R. Senthilnathan 13. Shri A. Anwhar Raajhaa 14. Shri Vishnu Dayal Ram 15. Shri Venakateswara Rao (Babu) Magantti 16. Shri Mohammad Salim 17. Prof. (Dr.) Mamtaz Sanghamita 18. Shri Ram Swaroop Sharma 19. Smt. Supriya Sadanand Sule 20. Shri Sharad Tripathi 21. Vacant Rajya Sabha 22. Smt. Jaya Bachchan 23. Shri P. Bhattacharya 24. Shri Sambhaji Chhatrapati 25. Shri Swapan Dasgupta 26. Shri Chunibhai Kanjibhai Gohel 27. Smt. Kanimozhi 28. Shri Kumar Ketkar 29. Shri V. Muraleedharan 30. Shri D. Kupendra Reddy 31. Shri Jose K. Mani* Secretariat 1. Smt. Abha Singh Yaduvanshi – Joint Secretary 2. Dr. Ram Raj Rai - Director 3. Smt. Jyochnamayi Sinha - Additional Director 4. Ms. Smita Singh - Committee Assistant * Nominated w.e.f. 30 October, 2018 vide Bulletin Part II No. 7388 INTRODUCTION I, the Chairperson of the Committee on External Affairs, having been authorized by the Committee to present the Report on their behalf, present this Twenty-Third Report of the Committee on External Affairs (2018-19) on the subject ‘Issues relating to migrant workers including appropriate legislative framework and skill development initiatives for prospective emigrants.’ 2. The Committee selected the subject ‘Issues relating to migrant workers including appropriate legislative framework and skill development initiatives for prospective emigrants’ for detailed examination during the year 2017-18 and 2018-19. The Committee were briefed by the representatives of the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship on 11 April 2017 and 22 November, 2017. The Committee also took oral evidences of the representatives of Ministry of External Affairs on this subject on 22 February 2018, 2 April 2018, 18 July 2018 and 2 August 2018. 3. The Report was considered and adopted by the Committee at their Sitting held on 27 December, 2018. The Minutes of the Sittings of the Committee are appended to the Report. 4. The Committee wish to express their gratitude to the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship for placing material information as well as tendering evidence and views before the Committee. 5. For facility of reference, the Observations/Recommendations of the Committee have been printed in bold letters in the Report. NEW DELHI DR. SHASHI THAROOR 27 December, 2018 Chairperson, 7 Pausha, 1940 (Saka) Committee on External Affairs CHAPTER 1 EMIGRATION FROM INDIA Migration is an integral part of globalization that holds the potential to benefit all countries and people. Globalization has created a lot of mobility in the labour market and this mobility is conducive to the requirements of labour surplus countries like India. The remittances sent by migrant workers, accounting for a significant share in foreign exchange earnings of nations and GDP growth, contribute significantly to the economic betterment of migrants’ families and economic growth of many developing countries. 1.2 The opening up of the Indian economy to the global economic flows and the increasing transnationalism of the Indian Diaspora will accelerate further migration in the future. In India, migratory flows of both skilled and unskilled labour have undergone changes in the process. This movement has created opportunity as well as challenges. India is as much a country of origin as that of destination and transit: this places us in a unique position in the discourse on human resource mobility. 1.3 Emigration (refers to those Indians who leave in order to pursue employment in another country) takes place under two categories based on the types of Passport holders, namely,Emigration Check Required (ECR) and Emigration Check Not Required (ECNR). ECR status requires emigration clearance from the office of Protector of Emigrants before proceeding to the 18 ECR countries (Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, UAE, Syria, Sudan, Qatar, Malaysia, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Indonesia, Brunei, Bahrain, Afghanistan, Oman, Kuwait, and Libya). ECR passports are provided for the protection of Indians (who are not 10th pass) and are going for employment in other countries. Emigration clearances are provided online to the workers applying through recognized Recruiting Agents who have a valid work visa. Passport holders travelling to other countries and passport with ECNR status need not get emigration clearance. The will have to provide a valid passport, tickets and valid visa at immigration counters of International Airports in India. 1 1.4 The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Malaysia are home to a vast majority of India’s migrant workers. The resident Indian community in the Gulf region is over 8.5 million. The temporary workers’ community in the Gulf countries comprises of people from most Indian states, particularly from Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal etc. I. Profile of Indian Emigrants: Trends, Policy and Governance 1.5 A very large number of Indians go abroad for employment, which includes both blue-collared unskilled or semi-skilled workers as well as highly qualified professionals. On a closer look, a discernible pattern can be seen in international migration from India which inter-alia includes- Increase in temporary migration. Growing feminization of migration. Diversity of emigrants from various states. Existence of illegal migration, even though in fewer numbers Greater migration of unskilled/low skilled workers to the Gulf region and skilled workers to the Organization for Economic Cooperation countries 1.6 The work relating to emigration of Indian citizens from India to other countries for employment and the return of emigrants is the responsibility of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The provisions of the Emigration Act, 1983 provides a regulatory framework for emigration of Indian workers for contractual overseas employment and seeks to safeguard their interests and ensure their welfare. The Act makes it mandatory for registration of Recruiting Agents with the Protector General of Emigrants. 1.7 The erstwhile Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) has been merged with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in 2016. When asked about the effect of this merger on the Government’s ability to respond to the problems of overseas workers, the Ministry stated that the merger of the erstwhile MOIA with the MEA has brought in enhanced synergies and strengthened the overall institutional framework for engagement 2 with the Indian diaspora and improved the welfare and protection of Indian nationals abroad. It has also enabled an optimum utilization of existing manpower. 1.8 Elaborating the broad policy of the Government of India towards the issue and concerns of emigrants, the Foreign Secretary during his testimony