THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Besides enacting a new emigration law, the Centre should evolve a comprehensive policy for migration and overseas recruitment, Loka Kerala Sabha has demanded. The demand was made in the approach document tabled on the first day of the two-day conference attended by expatriates from 65 countries and 21 Indian states.
Severely criticising the Centre for the lack of a policy on expatriates, the approach document said the Union government has carried out some ‘facing-saving exercises’ such as a new draft emigration bill and rollback of decisions that lead to exploitation of non-resident citizens. “However, such declarations do not ensure the actual welfare of expatriates,” it said.
The approach document also pointed out that the country’s treaties with other nations to ensure the welfare of Indian workers overseas remains on paper. It highlighted the inadequacies of the administrative machinery and the lack of a separate department for expatriate affairs at the Centre.
The Centre’s ‘neglect’ towards the rehabilitation of return emigrants also came in for criticism in the approach document. It said the state had approached the Centre with a Rs 2,000-crore special package. However, the proposal has not elicited any favourable response from the Union government, it said. The need for setting up skill training centres of international standards and utilisation of the services of academics serving in the best universities and laboratories in the state’s higher education sector also find mention in the approach document.