Telangana moots data bank on Gulf migrants

Telangana's Minister for NRI Affairs K.T. Rao on Monday suggested the Centre establish a centralised data bank on migrants in the Gulf region.

Rao made the suggestion at a meeting called by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on issues related to Gulf migrants in New Delhi.

He said all states should have access to the centralised data to identify who all were moving to the countries in the Gulf.

An official statement said the Minister also sought appointment of translators of Telugu language at all embassy offices in the Gulf countries.

Rao also urged the central government to come up with a specific policy for legal assistance to migrants by recruiting Indian-origin lawyers abroad. He also suggested an agreement with all Gulf nations to allow Indian migrant prisoners to complete their respective sentences in Indian jails.

As a few companies are unlawfully taking away passport of Indian migrants, Rao urged Sushma Swaraj to raise this human rights violation issue with authorities concerned.

He also urged the MEA to form a Group of Ministers (GoM) to discuss and emulate the best practices among states regarding issuance of passports, as well as welfare activities for the Gulf migrants.

Sushma Swaraj assured him on the GoM, which will meet once in three months to discuss the migrants' issues.

The meeting was attended by two central ministers and ambassadors from Kuwait, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain.

--IANS

ms/tsb/vm