Indian workers in great demand abroad: minister
Wednesday, 19 March 2008, 19:30 IST
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New Delhi: Minister of Labour and Employment Oscar Fernandes Wednesday told the Rajya Sabha that Indian workers were in great demand in both developed and developing countries, and 600,000-700,000 workers travel abroad for jobs every year. "Indian workers are in a great demand in some of the developed as well as developing countries. Every year, about 6-7 lakh (600,000-700,000) workers travel to various countries seeking job opportunities," Fernandes said in a written reply. "The countries in the Middle East and South East Asia offer tremendous opportunities for the skilled Indian workers, and electricians, plumbers, carpenters, drivers, welders, fitters, machine operators are in demand." Every year the skilled Indian workers travel to Canada, the United Arab Emirates, US, and UK other countries for jobs. Fernandes said the government had launched a skill upgradation scheme for the prospective emigrants, who are familiarized with "the good working practices, safety norms and the use of tools." "The trainees are given exposure on personality needs and how they should conduct themselves while they are working in the overseas establishments," the minister said in the reply. Fernandes, however, admitted that the productivity of Indian labour was lower than their counterparts from Singapore, Japan, China and the Republic of Korea. Referring to the World Competitiveness Year Book 2007 by the Institute of Management and Development, Lausanne, Switzerland, Fernandes said: "The labour productivity measured in terms of gross domestic product (purchasing power parity) per person employed per hour in India during 2006 has been worked out to be $4.16." "It is lower than Singapore ($25.92), Japan ($31.10), China-mainland ($6.02) and Republic of Korea ($19.78)."
Source: IANS
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