Ravi to lead delegation to Saudi to take up labour law issue

A delegation led by Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi will leave for Saudi Arabia on Sunday to convey India's concern about possible job losses to its nationals due to implementation of a new labour law that seeks to reserve 10 per cent jobs for locals there.
Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed and Advisor to Prime Minister T K A Nair will be part of the delegation.
Over two million Indians are currently working in Saudi Arabia.
The decision on Ravi's visit to the country was taken after he had discussed the issue of "Nitaqat" law with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh earlier this month.

The delegation during its two-day visit to the Gulf nation will hold meetings with Saudi Minister for Labour Adel bin Mohammad Fakeih and other important government functionaries. The delegation will also interact with Indian Community at Riyadh and Jeddah.
The Nitaqat law makes it mandatory for local companies to hire one Saudi national for every 10 migrant workers. There has been widespread perception that the new policy will lead to denial of job opportunities for a large number of Indians working there.
The Saudi government was implementing the Nitaqat law to cut unemployment in the country.