Chandy bats for blue-collar expatriates at diaspora meet

By Ashraf Padanna/ThiruvananthapuramKerala 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.