Apart from Israel, Indian workers will also go to Greece and Italy

- Comma

- This can be said to be a good initiative towards saving the workers who dream of a good career abroad from the trap of brokers, but...

- Narendra Modi and Benjamin Netanyahu

After the war with Hamas broke out on October 7 last year, the number of tourists to Israel dropped sharply. In a country that averaged more than three hundred thousand tourists per month, the number dropped to just forty thousand in November, the second month after the war began. The main reason for this is that Israel was always known as a tourist destination safe from the dangers of war. It was believed that Israel could never be attacked suddenly. Israel's spy agency, the Mossad, had a reputation as the number one spy agency in the world, but that reputation no longer exists after the attacks by Hamas.

A large number of airlines from other countries bring thousands of tourists here every year. Despite incidents of mutual terrorism and violence-induced displacement, foreign tourists are attracted to visit historic sites associated with the three Abrahamic religions, but now that flights are being canceled there, the situation is sure to worsen. In such a situation these terms of Israel are sufficient to describe the employment situation in North India. Since last month, thousands of laborers and construction workers in northern India have been lining up to travel to Israel, a country with high physical risk, for jobs. Where the death knell strikes from the sky, the poor Indian laborer rushes to try his luck. At first glance, this seems surprising.

At the request of Israel, the governments of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana have issued advertisements for the recruitment of 10,000 construction workers in Israel, as there is a severe shortage of workers due to the war. In the initial phase, 5,000 workers are being recruited under the supervision of the Israeli authorities. Some workers who wanted to go to Israel said that rather than the dangers of war, they saw a golden opportunity to earn four times their wages in a country like Israel.

The exercise by the Haryana and Uttar Pradesh governments to send workers to Israel is part of a broader project by the central government. Government of India is fully involved in this. The Government of India plans to enter into agreements with various countries (excluding Gulf countries) to supply workers in the manufacturing and construction sectors. India has also signed an agreement with Israel to supply 40,000 workers under this scheme. These workers will replace workers mainly from the West Bank and Gaza, whose work permits have been revoked since the start of the war. Greece has also requested India to send 10,000 seasonal workers to work in the fields. Italy is also looking for workers to work in municipalities. And a promising meet towards India begins.

The government is patting itself on the back for this scheme, but this is not a new idea. e. S. In 2007, the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) formulated policies to help skilled and semi-skilled workers migrate to the Gulf and other countries for work. Under this policy, the then government planned to enter into bilateral agreements to facilitate the movement of Indian professionals to Europe, South-East Asia and North America. In the previous UPA government, MOIA was a separate ministry, which e. S. It was merged with the Ministry of External Affairs after the new government came to power in 2014. The objective of this ministry was to prevent illegal migration to various countries abroad and to ensure the safety and assistance of Indian migrant workers. It is a different matter that this plan has not come to fruition.

In this regard, the current government's scheme is being highly appreciated, as through this, Indians are not only assured of a fixed income, but also have better livelihood opportunities available to them. This is being considered as a practical step, as the Indian economy currently lacks the capacity to pay the emerging workforce a wage comparable to that earned abroad on a large scale. It is not even possible. The biggest issue is morality. It is no longer a secret how badly blue collar workers are treated in other countries. Everyone knows. When Qatar won the hosting rights for the Football World Cup, the issue was picked up with great enthusiasm by the Western media.

In most cases, where workers are paid higher wages, there are more cases of human rights violations. e. S. In 2016, then External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj made several headlines by helping hungry and thirsty workers laid off by a Jeddah construction company. The desperate unemployed, low wages and victims of severe exploitation, who pay lakhs of rupees to brokers to get such jobs, understand very well how they will be treated abroad.

The central government's latest plan for overseas labor supply raises many questions. Should the government be part of a process over which it has no control or can it intervene even partially from the outside just for the sake of being a government? The issue becomes particularly sensitive from the perspective of Israel, where the war is spreading and the outcome is still uncertain. While entering into agreements with other countries, is the government also taking steps to ensure that the status of workers there is regularly known? Does the government have the power to enforce its own working conditions for its workers in the country concerned? Ultimately, the big question is whether such labor agreements between the two countries can provide a permanent solution to employment, a major issue in India?

If such agreements do not guarantee that the employment issue will be resolved, why is the Indian government taking the risk of becoming a contractor for global job recruitment? This is not an expected situation for a country that wants to carve out a bigger role for itself on the global stage. The Ministry of External Affairs has released the latest list of Registered Recruitment Agents on its website. It has also warned of severe consequences for bribing unregistered brokers. This can be said to be a good initiative towards saving people from the traps of brokers who dream of a good career abroad, but how much attention the government itself can take in mediating and sending workers abroad is a matter of inquiry.