DUBAI // An agreement between the UAE and India to protect blue-collar workers from unscrupulous employers and recruitment agents has yet to come into effect.
The countries formally agreed in April to an online system that would enable the verification and attestation of Indian workers' contracts by the UAE Ministry of Labour and Indian authorities.
The Indian Embassy said it was awaiting a response from the ministry regarding the reasons for the delay.
"We have written a letter to them at least a month ago," said MK Lokesh, the Indian ambassador. "But there has been no response."
The ministry did not respond to requests for a comment.
The agreement was signed by Saqr Ghobash, the Minister of Labour, and Vayalar Ravi, the Indian minister of overseas affairs, in Abu Dhabi.
The software was developed by Indian authorities to allow UAE workers' contracts and related documents to be attested online.
The system links the Indian missions with the labour ministry and the protector general of emigrants in India so they can check for discrepancies, keep track of violations by employers or recruitment agents and maintain a database of blue-collar workers in the country.
It aims to prevent contract substitution, where workers sign a contract at home then are told to sign another with reduced wages and longer hours when they arrive in the UAE.
Although the government does not stipulate a minimum wage, the Indian government requires workers to be paid at least Dh950 a month. Employers also have to provide food and accommodation.
Companies that supply labour and recruitment agents agree the online system could upset employers who breach labour terms by paying lower wages or providing poor living conditions.
"There could be employers against this online system as there is little room for manipulation and they will have to comply with all the legal requirements," said Johnson Alexander, director of human resources at Dulsco, which outsources manpower to UAE firms.
"It is a good system for good employers. Employers will be constrained to provide the Indian government's stipulated wages and good accommodation.
"This would mean they cannot compromise on salaries, charge for visas or provide unacceptable accommodation."
A recruitment agent said the web-based system, when implemented, would avoid any "double standards".
"This is to make sure what has been promised is given all the way through," said Mohammed Jindran, managing director of Overseas Labour Supply, which has been hiring in the UAE and the Arabian Gulf for the past 33 years.
"With the online system, Indian immigration officials can also see what has been approved by the UAE. There might be companies that don't want to pay the agreed amount and want cheap labour."
pkannan@thenational.ae
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Second leg: Wednesday, May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
TV: BeIN Sports, 10.45pm (UAE)
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$1,000 award for 1,000 days on madrasa portal
Daily cash awards of $1,000 dollars will sweeten the Madrasa e-learning project by tempting more pupils to an education portal to deepen their understanding of math and sciences.
School children are required to watch an educational video each day and answer a question related to it. They then enter into a raffle draw for the $1,000 prize.
“We are targeting everyone who wants to learn. This will be $1,000 for 1,000 days so there will be a winner every day for 1,000 days,” said Sara Al Nuaimi, project manager of the Madrasa e-learning platform that was launched on Tuesday by the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, to reach Arab pupils from kindergarten to grade 12 with educational videos.
“The objective of the Madrasa is to become the number one reference for all Arab students in the world. The 5,000 videos we have online is just the beginning, we have big ambitions. Today in the Arab world there are 50 million students. We want to reach everyone who is willing to learn.”
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Ram Buxani earned a salary of 125 rupees per month in 1959
Indian currency was then legal tender in the Trucial States.
He received the wages plus food, accommodation, a haircut and cinema ticket twice a month and actuals for shaving and laundry expenses
Buxani followed in his father’s footsteps when he applied for a job overseas
His father Jivat Ram worked in general merchandize store in Gibraltar and the Canary Islands in the early 1930s
Buxani grew the UAE business over several sectors from retail to financial services but is attached to the original textile business
He talks in detail about natural fibres, the texture of cloth, mirrorwork and embroidery
Buxani lives by a simple philosophy – do good to all
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
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- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Will Wilson is not the first player to have attained high-class representative honours after first learning to play rugby on the playing fields of UAE.
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Abu Dhabi-born and raised, the current Jebel Ali Dragons assistant coach was selected to play for Scotland at the Hong Kong Sevens in 2011.
Jordan Onojaife
Having started rugby by chance when the Jumeirah College team were short of players, he later won the World Under 20 Championship with England.
Devante Onojaife
Followed older brother Jordan into England age-group rugby, as well as the pro game at Northampton Saints, but recently switched allegiance to Scotland.
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Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
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