The Hindu : 1.5 lakh Keralites in Saudi Arabia may be rendered jobless

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Mar 06, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

1.5 lakh Keralites in Saudi Arabia may be rendered jobless

By Biju Govind

KOZHIKODE, MARCH 5. While the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) to India has become a hot topic in the United States Presidential elections, lakhs of Indians especially Keralites are now facing the threat of losing their jobs due to the new labour policy in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The new royal decree also known as Saudisation programme, which is aimed at facilitating national development and reducing the number of expatriates in the local work force, came into effect on February 21, the Hijra New Year.

Saudi Arabia has decided to reduce the number of foreign workers to 20 per cent of its total population within the next 10 years. It has also insisted that the number of people from a foreign country should not exceed 10 per cent of the total foreign manpower.

Sources said that the new Saudisation drive was likely to hit immediately the employees working in three sectors mainly the travel and tourism industry, transportation and gold trading sector. On Thursday, employees of a travel agency in Riydah were arrested by the authorities because the company had allegedly failed to meet the Saudisation deadline that 35 per cent of their staff must be Saudi.

At present there are about 70 lakh foreign workers and their dependents. The current population of Saudis in the Kingdom is estimated at 1.70 crores. There are 15 lakhs Indians of which Keralites constitute nearly 8 lakhs. At least 75,000 Non- Resident Keralites would have to return home in the coming months and 1.5 lakh this year, according to sources.

Indians form the bulk of the work force in the 2,800 travel companies and agencies in Saudi Arabia. At least a lakh put in their service in this sector where there are more than 25 foreign airlines operating under the jurisdiction of the Presidency of Civil Aviation.

Travel and tourism industry have been operating with expatriates because of the absence of trained and qualified Saudis. Besides, the presence of the Keralites as salesmen would enable the travel agencies to attract more customers travelling to their hometowns in Kerala.

``Keralites have been the backbone of the service industry for a long time in Saudi Arabia. Approximately one lakh Keralites get visas to Saudi Arabia while one-third of the total number return every year, '' says K.V. Muraleedharan, president, Kerala Association of Travel Agents.

The Gulf Today correspondent, Ashraf Padanna told The Hindu today that the salesmen in jewellery shops have also been affected by the Saudisation of the gold sector. At least 40 per cent of shops in the cities across the country failed to transact business after the deadline ended on February 21.

The gold market in Saudi Arabia is one of the largest in the Middle East. About 6,000 retail jewellery shops, with Jeddah having nearly 1,300 shops, employed people from Kerala. Nearly half the gold shops in Riyadh, Jeddah and elsewhere are actually owned by expatriates.

Similarly the foreign manpower in the transportation sector is from Kerala. Keralites are employed by the taxi companies because they are trustworthy especially when it comes to transporting women and children. They are usually preferred along with others from the sub-continent simply for the less salary they demand from their employers unlike the Saudis, he said.

Mr. Muraleedharan said that travel agencies and gold shops had been targetted because of their `credibility' and presence of foreign manpower. Although a majority of the shops were under the sponsorship of the Saudis it is highly inappropriate that the employees were arrested for not implementing the Saudisation programme.

``The Indian embassy should take up the issue with the counterparts in Saudi Arabia,'' he said.

Keralites in Saudi Arabia take up employment from goat and camel rearing to high-profile jobs depending on the professional qualifications and job visas. Foreigners are employed as labourers, corporation cleaners, construction workers, taxi drivers, house drivers, housemaids, cooks, tailors, flower vendors and business managers. Some earned as little as 250 Saudi Riyals and were lodged at the makeshift tents along with camels, Mr. Muraleedharan said.

Mr. Ashraf said that the capital-intensive petrochemical industry in addition to leather, textile, garment, metal, food and beverage industries and the construction sector were the biggest job providers to the Indians. But with the unemployment rate among the Saudi nationals crossing 15 per cent the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs decided to step in to create more jobs to its citizens, he said.

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