By Lola Nayar,

New Delhi, Sep 3 (IANS) The government is planning to put in place safeguards to help and prevent exploitation of unskilled workers, including housemaids, working overseas, says Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi.

"We are planning to put in place more strict regulations and restrictions on overseas employment of unskilled labour. This is to prevent their exploitation. Our ladies particularly must be protected," Ravi told IANS.

Indian embassies and consulates abroad have often received complaints from unskilled workers, especially domestic helps, about physical and mental harassment by their sponsors.

Recently an Indian housemaid was allegedly beaten up by her Bahraini sponsor and had to be hospitalised after she started vomiting blood. The woman from Kerala said her employer abused her repeatedly since she arrived in the kingdom two months ago.

"We have set up a committee of secretaries to formulate a new set of regulations that would require the unskilled workers taking up jobs overseas to get themselves registered with the Indian consulate or embassy in the country," the minister said.

"Unless such steps are taken it would be difficult for the government to provide timely help."

Hopeful of the committee coming up with its set of recommendations and regulations soon, the minister said the idea is to have the workers overseas maintain contact with the Indian embassy or consulate on a regular basis.

The minister, who has been visiting countries with sizeable population of Indian origin to establish better contacts, favours a monthly reporting programme, but a final decision would be taken after receiving the committee's final recommendations.

The main problem faced by unskilled workers is not only due to untenable work conditions both for housemaids and labourers but also the money power of touts who often leave the workers high and dry without proper documents or a job.

Of the estimated one million unskilled workers who took up jobs overseas last year, the ministry has records of only 500,000 people who had obtained "Emigration Clearance" from the office of Protector of Emigrants (POE), the minister said.

The ministry records show that there are around four million Indian workers in Gulf countries with the UAE accounting for 1.8 million and Saudi Arabia 1.4 million.

The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs is in talks with eight countries, including Malaysia, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Yemen and Jordan for putting in place labour safeguards like adequate salary and good work conditions through memorandum of understanding (MoU), the minister said.

The first of the MoUs on labour is expected to be signed with Malaysia. In the case of the other countries, the draft agreements are still to be finalised

The regulation for emigration clearances have meanwhile been relaxed permitting students who have passed class 10, in place of the earlier requirement of twelfth pass, to take up jobs overseas without requirement of registering with POE and emigration clearance.

"Only those who don't have tenth class pass qualification are now required to get the emigration clearance," the minister said.