Indian envoy discusses UAE workers' issues in Abu Dhabi meeting

Abu Dhabi - The major points of discussion were workers being taken for a ride by recruitment agents back in India and the quality of food.

With tens of thousands of Indian workers in labour accommodations in the UAE, Indian Ambassador to the UAE, Navdeep Suri went on a two-day visit enquiring about their whereabouts.
He met workers at the Workers Village in Mussafah and the Industrial City of Abu Dhabi. There are some 32,000 expat workers there with 10,000 from India at the Workers Village. ICAD meanwhile hosts 50,000 workers, 20,000 of which are Indians.
The major points of discussion were workers being taken for a ride by recruitment agents back in India and the quality of food.
Workers complained about recruitment agents charging Rs100,000 or more, which according to Embassy's First Secretary (Labour and Community Affairs) Dinesh Kumar, "Isn't right as the agents aren't authorized to take more than Rs20,000".
The ambassador said he had learnt about the issues and took up the matter with the management of the Workers Village.
Suri interacted with 300 workers at the Workers Village and some 500 at ICAD. He urged everyone to call the Indian Workers Resources Centre to register their complaints. At ICAD, workers had issues with the quality of the food being served. Suri intervened with ICAD management to resolve some of the issues. The Indian Workers Resources Centre also held health awareness lectures. Officials from Higher Corporation for Specialised Economic Zones (ZonesCorp), which developed the Worker's Village were present for the event.
At the end of it all, the workers thronged to take selfies with the ambassador.
- ashwani@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE
• Abu Dhabi