Question : AGREEMENTS WITH FOREIGN COUNTRIES ON INDIAN WORKERS

(a) whether the Government has signed any Agreement with the foreign countries to protect the interests of Indian workers; and

(b) if so, the details thereof including the names of the countries with whom such Agreements have been signed?

MINISTER OF THE STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF OVERSEAS INDIAN AFFAIRS (SHRI VAYALAR RAVI)

(a) & (b) The Government had signed Labour Agreements with Jordan and Qatar in 1980s. Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, after its creation in 2004, has made concerted efforts to enter into bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with all the major receiving Countries for protecting the interests and welfare of our migrant workers. MoUs have been signed with UAE in December, 2006, with Kuwait in April 2007, with Oman in November 2008, with Malaysia in January 2009 and with Bahrain in June, 2009.

The MoUs contain broad principles for enhancing employment opportunities and for ensuring that the recruitment and terms of employment are in conformity with the laws of both the Countries, measures to be taken by the host Country for protection and welfare of the workers and constitution of a Joint Working Group for effective implementation of the MoUs.

In addition to the labour MoUs, the Ministry has also signed bilateral Social Security Agreements (SSAs) with Belgium, France and Germany. These Agreements protect the interests of our workers by exempting the posted workers from social security contribution under the host country legislation for a certain period of time (provided the worker continues to pay his contribution under the home country system during the period of detachment) and by providing for portability of pension in case of those who have to contribute under the host country legislation. The SSAs also provide for totalization of contribution periods covered under the two systems.