Why remittance-dependent states must help recruiting agencies survive

India tops the list of nations that remit earnings - nearly $83 billion remitted in 2019 - according to the World Bank

The prolonged lockdown and uncertainty around oil prices and growth prospects in the Gulf have hit India’s overseas labour recruiting agents, showed an investigation by India Migration Now, a Mumbai-based migration research organisation. These agencies facilitated over 90% of the overseas labour recruitment that took place through the government’s e-Migrate portal between 2010 and 2019. The industry has been idle for the last three months and agencies are struggling to pay salaries and rents.

India had 1,454 active registered agents recruiting workers for the international