By Ashraf Padanna/Thiruvananthapuram


Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has urged the federal authorities to expedite the

process of enfranchising India’s 10mn-strong diaspora and to address issues of blue-collar

workers.
He wanted changes in election laws and suitable technology to be developed to provide

online voting facility to the NRIs and end the discrimination.
Contrary to expectations of the delegates from the Gulf countries, Prime Minister Narendra

Modi failed to make any commitment on issues like absentee voting in his address at the

Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) on Thursday.
The southern state, which hosted the PBD or Non-Resident Indian day celebrations in 2013,

represents most of the Indian expatriates in the Gulf countries who contribute nearly half

of the foreign exchange remittances to the country.
The state which opened the first corporate international airport with the support of its

diaspora, has since 2005 been demanding waivers in strict conditions for starting a budget

airline for the low-income expats.
“The ordinary, common NRIs, who constitute close to 75% of the total expat population, are

not represented here,” Chandy said in his address at the chief ministers’ conclave of the

three-day event that concluded yesterday.
He proposed setting up a separate one-day session for emigrant labourers to discuss their

problems from the PBD’s next edition onwards.
“These people remit on an average over Rs600bn per year to our banks in Kerala which is

three times our annual plan budget,” he said in his address webcast live. “We have to

stand united and should carry all sectors of society together for fulfilling our goals”.
The Kerala chief minister also aired concern about the travel woes of the Gulf-based NRIs

who complain of “exorbitant and unreasonable airfare charged by various airlines including

our own Air India”.
“Almost 80% of the Indians in the Gulf are blue-collar workers,” he said. “And during

vacations, the airlines increase their fares five to 10 times. Exploitation of the poor

workers must stop. The government must think about it”.
Referring to Saudi Arabia’s Nitaqat initiatives to regularise overseas workers, Chandy

said global trends indicate a further shrinkage in the job market for expatriates in the

Gulf and it might force more workers to return for good.
He also sought federal assistance for their rehabilitation.
“We must think about how we can rehabilitate (them) and in what way we can (exploit) their

expertise. (We have) chalked out a rehabilitation package but lack of resources is a

problem,” he said.
Quoting a McKinsey report on India’s economic geography for 2025, he said there was an

opportunity for companies to target Kerala as a production base as one of the eight high

performing states based on growth, per capita income, productivity of workers, literacy

rate and electrified households.
“Domestic consumption in Kerala is high, thanks to a great extent to remittances from our

emigrants. Companies which choose to set up businesses in Kerala are likely to find a

strong consumer base and ready demand,” he said.
An interactive session chaired by V K Singh, the junior minister for external affairs and

overseas Indian affairs, with Chandy sitting among the audience was also held separately

yesterday to discuss issues of labour and employment in the Gulf.