The Hindu : Karnataka News : Abuse of domestic workers will be stopped: Anil Wadhwa

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Tuesday, Jun 30, 2009
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Karnataka

Abuse of domestic workers will be stopped: Anil Wadhwa

Special Correspondent

Panaji: Indian Ambassador to Oman Anil Wadhwa has said Indian embassies were taking steps to stop employers in the Gulf from exploiting domestic workers of Indian origin and also extend help to victims of abuse and sexual assault.

Mr. Wadhwa and his wife and Indian Ambassador to Qatar Deepa Gopalan Wadhwa were interacting with presspersons here on Sunday in the presence of Goa Commissioner for NRI Affairs Eduardo Faleiro.

Mr. Wadhwa said: “Sexual abuse has been one of the areas we have focused on and we have initiated many steps to tackle the problem.”

“The first step taken is the fixation of minimum wages for domestic workers,” Mr. Wadhwa said. The other step was that it was mandatory for people to get all contracts for domestic workers endorsed by the embassy. The employers have been asked to bring the domestic worker employed with them to the embassy within a year of employment. The passport validity is for one year and at the end each year, the worker has to be produced at the embassy for renewal of the passport.

Mr. Wadhwa said the employers have been asked to provide mobile phone to domestic workers and the workers have been given a 24x7 number in case of any emergency so that help can be extended to them from the embassy.

To ensure that a worker was not left in lurch following a dispute with an employer, the embassy was making it mandatory for the employers to furnish a guarantee of 2,500 dollars. Victims of abuse can approach the embassy for help. The embassy would provide protection to the person concerned and also help the person get legal help to fight his/her case.

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