Telangana seeks centralised data of Indian workers in Gulf

Hyderabad: Telangana Government has sought creation of a centralised data bank of migrants living in the Gulf region, and an agreement with the Gulf countries to allow the Indian convicts there to serve prison sentence in India.

Telangana Minister for IT, Industries and NRI Affairs KT Rama Rao today met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in New Delhi to discuss these issues, a government release said here. Ambassadors of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain were also present, it said.

A centralised data bank of Indian workers in the Gulf countries should be created and shared among all states, Rao told Swaraj.

He also sought appointment of Telugu interpreters at Indian embassies in the Gulf countries.

The union government should come out with a specific policy for legal assistance to Indians living in the Gulf countries by hiring Indian-origin lawyers. Further, India should enter into an agreement with all Gulf countries so that if an Indian national is convicted for any offence there, he or she can serve the sentence in India, Rao suggested.

He also requested Swaraj to take up the issue of employers in the Gulf countries forcibly taking away passports of Indian workers. It should be raised as an issue of human rights violation, he said.

Swaraj assured that a group of ministers from various states would be formed which would meet every three months to discuss the issues of Indian workers in the Gulf countries, the release said.