Kerala braces up for 'Nitaqat' returnees from Saudi Arabia

13,000 people return from Saudi Arabia

Since the deadline for implementing ‘Nitaqat’, a new labour law in Saudi Arabia, ended a few week ago, Keralites working there are returning home at the rate of about 150 people a day. A major chunk of the returnees are labourers who come back with nothing other than their dress and personal belongings. A number of returnees land at the Kozhikode airport because most of the Keralites employed in the West Asia are from northern districts such as Malappuram.

The Nitaqat law is part of the Saudi government’s policy to expand job avenues for its nationals. Under the policy, 10 per cent of the jobs are reserved for Saudi nationals. The law is applicable to even menial jobs in small and medium business establishments.

The Kerala government has initiated several measures to bring back affected people from Saudi Arabia as well as to rehabilitate them. Besides providing free air tickets for those who lost their jobs to return home, the government may also hire chartered flights to bring back people.

K C Joseph, state minister in-charge of non-resident Keralites’ affairs, said 13,000 people had already returned.

The government has also announced a rehabilitation package for the returnees, including a self-employment scheme. “The government will provide 10 per cent subsidy to 1,000 entrepreneurs whose projects cost up to Rs 20 lakh and the Cabinet has earmarked Rs 10 crore for this purpose,” Chief minister Oommen Chandy said recently after a Cabinet meeting.

A state-level banking committee will soon meet to explore the possibility of extending concessional loans to returnees to start business ventures.

The state government will also seek the support of the Union government to rehabilitate the returnees.

Chandy said the state had set up three advisory committees, one each at Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam to help Keralites prepare the necessary documents for returning. Air India has already opened help desks at these airports.

Non-Resident Keralites Affairs Department (NORKA), the nodal agency to implement various schemes for the returnees, has also set up help desks at the three international airports in Kerala to help the returnees and to prepare their a data bank of them.

Some of the returnees told Business Standard a large number of people are still stuck in Saudi Arabia without valid documents.

Basheer, a resident of Kodungalloor in Thrissur district, said at least 25 of his co-workers are unable to step out of their place of residence for fear of getting arrested as the Saudi authorities have started implementing the law strictly. He said many people do not even have food and other basic needs. “The state government should act on a war footing; otherwise thousands of Malayalees will be thrown in jail,” he said. He also alleged the Indian Embassy officials in Saudi Arabia did nothing for the Indians.

Of the total 2.5-million Keralites working in various West Asian countries, about 450,000 are in Saudi Arabia. Ninety per cent of them are workers and semi-skilled labourers. The United Arab Emirates employs 773,000 Keralites.