New Delhi: India is looking to amend the Emigration Act of 1983 as part of efforts to meet the demands of the global workplace, External Affairs minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday. This move also aims to promote legal mobility while discouraging non-legal migration.
The government has launched a range of skill training, vocational education and professional preparation efforts to make Indian workers more productive, the minister added while speaking at an event to launch the Global Access to Talent from India (GATI) Foundation.
The minister noted that India has not developed or leveraged its human resources to the extent it could have in the past. “Conceptually, it is vital that we promote legal mobility and strongly discourage, I would argue even prohibit, non-legal ones,” he added.
According to Jaishankar, the Emigration Act of 1983 was “designed to address the demands of a particular geography in a certain era” but the “times have changed and our vistas have expanded.”
“We need to be more promotional and aware of new possibilities, even while taking care of the vulnerable. This issue is currently being examined by the government,” Jaishankar added.
The government has also taken up a range of steps to give Indian citizens the “confidence to fully explore the global workplace. For instance, it has given the ability to carry out evacuation operations, and measures to back up nationals in difficult situations such as the replacement passports, payment of wages or preventing mistreatment by foreign employers.
“From establishing an effective grievance portal to creating a responsive fund for the needs of the vulnerable, we have sought to institutionalised…taking care of Indians abroad,” he said.
India has signed a migration and mobility agreements with 22 countries, from Germany to Malaysia. These agreements also address the issue of illegal migration, reported the Hindustan Times.
Jaishankar said there are currently about 34 million Indians and people of Indian origin living and working abroad. These workers are from diverse fields — from techies and entrepreneurs to blue collar workers and service providers.
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