New Delhi, Jan 9
Expatriate Indians in Saudi Arabia feel that the new labour policy of that Gulf nation will not affect them as they are generally law-abiding citizens.
"Indians are law-abiding people and the Saudi government has corrected the (residency) status of around 400,000 illegal Indian workers in the country," Shihab Kottukad, consultant to the Non Resident Keralites Affairs (NORKA) department of the Kerala government and a volunteer at the Indian embassy in Saudi Arabia, told IANS here Wednesday on the sidelines of the 12th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, the annual gathering of people of Indian origin.
According to Kottukad, the new policy will affect only those expatriates who are living illegally in that country and those who do not abide by the law. The new Nitaqat or Saudisation policy in that country - which has been much misunderstood in India - makes it mandatory for all Saudi companies to reserve 10 percent of jobs for Saudi nationals.
Following the implementation of the policy from June 2011 onwards, Saudi authorities granted a six-month grace period last year for all expatriates to either rectify their residency status or leave the country.
By:IANS