The announcement was made by the Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, who spoke during the inaugural session of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, the three-day gathering, which included Indians from abroad to discuss issues such as trade and culture.

Every worker will be issued a smart card containing all details of the worker, such as his employer details, work contract, insurance etc., and the data will also be made available to the Government of India and the overseas missions.

Such a project would help in making the emigration process more simple, orderly, transparent and humane. Several unskilled workers in the UAE, at present, rarely carry identification and it is difficult to know their whereabouts when they get into problems or go to work on the black labour market after losing their jobs.

However, the cards are mandatory only for workers who leave India for overseas, for job purposes for the first time, and are not applicable to those already working in the UAE, the Indian Overseas Affairs Minister, Vayalar Ravi clarified.

At present there are about five million Indian workers in the Gulf, out of which about 1.2million or more Indians are working in UAE, especially in the construction sector.

The Smart Card is one of the several initiatives enforced by the Indian government during the past year to protect its migrant workforce, particularly the unskilled workers.

Posted on 9/1/2009

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