India continues to be biased when it comes to clearly defining the 'Pravasi Indian'. The union government has organised a three-day grand mela on the occasion of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, observed on January 9 each year, this time at Gandhinagar in Gujarat.
While the event has seen participation from thousands of wealthy NRIs and PIOs (people of Indian Origin), it has, once again, excluded the Indian labour diaspora, also Pravasi Indians, in the true sense of the term. The registration fee to the event is Rs20,000, a hefty amount for the average, middle-class Indian.
Even Maharashtra is indifferent to the migrant labourers. A proposal moved by the state labour department to create a specialised overseas employment cell submitted about a year and a half ago, has seen no movement so far. The cell was supposed to keep a check on the migrant workers who go abroad and deal with their issues on a regular basis.
Principal secretary of state labour department Baldev Singh said: "I have just joined and I'm yet to go through the proposal. Only after that, I will be able to comment on the matter."
Senior government officials informed that a similar body that handled such issues was shut down because of mismanagement a few years ago.
Even though the exact number of migrant workers from Maharashtra was not available with the labour department, it is estimated that the state sends a smaller number of labourers, including semi-skilled and unskilled workers such as construction workers, domestic help and drivers, abroad, as compared to Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Kerala.
Of the estimated 25 million Indians employed outside the country, almost eight million work in Gulf countries, many of whom work in Qatar, which has drawn worldwide flak from several human rights organisations for their inhuman treatment towards migrant labourers.
Many workers have reported physical abuse, sexual harassment, non payment of wages, confiscation of passports and deplorable working conditions there.
Kerala government is the only one in the country to have a non-resident affairs department for dealing with issues of non-resident Keralites.
Pravasi Bharatiya Day is observed to mark the arrival of Mahatma Gandhi in India to lead the country's freedom struggle.
Dr Subhash Bhatnagar, a Delhi-based labour activist said that he along with other activists had sent a petition on the issue to the committee on petitions and will be sending a reminder to them soon.
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