Report : BMS protest forces Qatar Govt to change policies
Tuesday, May 24, 2022
  • Circulation
  • Advertise
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
Organiser
  • ‌
  • Bharat
  • World
  • Editorial
  • Analysis
  • Opinion
  • Defence
  • Sports
  • Business
  • More
    • RSS in News
    • Special Report
    • Culture
    • Sci & Tech
    • Entertainment
    • Education
    • Books
    • Interviews
    • Travel
    • Health
    • Obituary
SUBSCRIBE
No Result
View All Result
Organiser
  • ‌
  • Bharat
  • World
  • Editorial
  • Analysis
  • Opinion
  • Defence
  • Sports
  • Business
  • More
    • RSS in News
    • Special Report
    • Culture
    • Sci & Tech
    • Entertainment
    • Education
    • Books
    • Interviews
    • Travel
    • Health
    • Obituary
No Result
View All Result
Organiser
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Bharat
  • World
  • Editorial
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Culture
  • Defence
  • RSS in News
  • Subscribe
Home General

Report : BMS protest forces Qatar Govt to change policies

Archive Manager by Archive Manager
Jul 4, 2015, 12:00 am IST
in General
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterTelegramEmail

The strong protest by Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), both in India and the world fora, against the death of about 700 migrant workers from South Asian countries in Qatar during the last five years forced the Qatar government to take immediate corrective steps. The Qatar Government has assured the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to ensure full safety and facilities to the migrant labourers working anywhere in the country.
Apart from stating protest outside Qatar Embassy in New Delhi and presenting memorandum to Indian Foreign Minister, the BMS raised the issue at June 2015 ILO Conference in Genewa. The ILO’s experts committee investigated the matter and in response the Qatar Government assured the ILO of “workers safety in future”.

ILO directives to
Qatar Government

1.    Abolish the kafala system and replace it with a work permit that allows the worker to change the employer. This includes abolishing the “no objection” certificate
2.    Work towards abolishing the exit permit system in the shortest possible time, in the interim, make exit permits available on a matter of right
3.    Vigorously enforce the legal provisions on passport confiscation
4.    Work with labour sending countries to ensure that recruitment fees are not charged from the workers
5.    Ensure that contracts signed in the sending countries are not altered in Qatar, and prosecute those indulging in it
6.    Facilitate access to justice system to migrant workers
7.    Continue to hire additional labour inspectors and increase the necessary material resources to them to carry out inspection.

It is to be noted that about 1.5 million migrant workers from South Asian countries including India, Nepal and Pakistan are working in Doha for the last five years for the preparations of 2022 World Football Cup. They are being reportedly treated inhumanly. They are also forced to work for more than 14 hours without any brake for meals and even drinking water. Many of them have reached the stage of starvation and are suffering from critical diseases. The contractors snatch their passports to stop them from leaving the country. It is done under the controversial Act, kafala, which keeps a migrant worker like a slave.  
Al-Khulaifi, Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Qatar government assured the ILO on June 10 that the Government has adopted sound policies in collaboration with the regional and international organisations to promote the respect and protection of workers’ rights. It deployed every effort to protect the rights of migrant workers. “The government is preparing a Bill on the termination of sponsorship (kafala) system and its replacement with an employment contact system. The amendments would be made to allow the workers to leave their employer after obtaining authorisation from the competent government authority, without prior authorisation by the employer,” the Minister said.
In its report the ILO’s expert committee hoped that the proposed legislation by Qatar Government would make it possible to suppress the restricts and obstacles that limit the migrant workers’ freedom of movement and prevent them terminating their employment relationship in case of abuse, authorise workers to leave their employment at certain intervals or after having been given reasonable notice, review the procedure of issuing  exit visas, and guarantee access to rapid and efficient complaint mechanism to enforce workers’ rights throughout the country.
After the worldwide protest the Qatar Government has now set up a new hotline and a dedicated email address, as well as accounts on social media networks (on Facebook and Twitter) to receive the workers’ complaints and address them promptly. A new mechanism to submit complaints to various authorities through single window system have been established at the specialised labour departments. Furthermore offices at the courts had been established in order to assist workers with legal proceedings, free of charge.
On the subject of inspection and the enforcement of laws, “the number of labour inspectors have been increased from 150 to 294. Moreover, labour inspectors have been provided with modern handled devices (tablets) to enable them to collect information electronically and save time in preparing reports, which previously had to be established upon their return to their offices,” the Qatar representative informed the ILO.
Though the Qatar government has claimed to have taken some steps, the BMS is not satisfied with them. BMS national president Shri Baijnath Rai, who attended the ILO Conference, said there has been a proposal to abolish kafala but no definite timeframe has been set for it. Similarly, the number of labour inspectors, even though to be increased to 294, is insufficient in view of the large number of workforce, Shri Rai added. 

Pramod Kumar (July 12, 2015 Page : 46)

ShareTweetSendShareSend
Previous News

West Bengal: Why this Jashn about Iqbal?

Next News

Analysis : India, China and Lakhvi

Related News

National Health Authority launches revamped ABHA mobile app

National Health Authority launches revamped ABHA mobile app

Setback to prophets of doom: ‘India Model’ on Covid vaccines gets a global pat

Setback to prophets of doom: ‘India Model’ on Covid vaccines gets a global pat

Prime Minister Narendra Modi encourages Indian students to apply for the Quad Fellowship programme

Prime Minister Narendra Modi encourages Indian students to apply for the Quad Fellowship programme

Biden hails Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pandemic response, hits out at China

Biden hails Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pandemic response, hits out at China

US-India Investment Incentive Agreement to give impetus to ties, Biden tells Prime Minister Narendra Modi

US-India Investment Incentive Agreement to give impetus to ties, Biden tells Prime Minister Narendra Modi

DEFENCE SCAN: PRESIDENTIAL DEFENCE INVESTITURE CEREMONY

DEFENCE SCAN: PRESIDENTIAL DEFENCE INVESTITURE CEREMONY

Comments

The comments posted here/below/in the given space are not on behalf of Organiser. The person posting the comment will be in sole ownership of its responsibility. According to the central government's IT rules, obscene or offensive statement made against a person, religion, community or nation is a punishable offense, and legal action would be taken against people who indulge in such activities.

Latest News

National Health Authority launches revamped ABHA mobile app

National Health Authority launches revamped ABHA mobile app

Setback to prophets of doom: ‘India Model’ on Covid vaccines gets a global pat

Setback to prophets of doom: ‘India Model’ on Covid vaccines gets a global pat

Prime Minister Narendra Modi encourages Indian students to apply for the Quad Fellowship programme

Prime Minister Narendra Modi encourages Indian students to apply for the Quad Fellowship programme

Biden hails Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pandemic response, hits out at China

Biden hails Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pandemic response, hits out at China

US-India Investment Incentive Agreement to give impetus to ties, Biden tells Prime Minister Narendra Modi

US-India Investment Incentive Agreement to give impetus to ties, Biden tells Prime Minister Narendra Modi

DEFENCE SCAN: PRESIDENTIAL DEFENCE INVESTITURE CEREMONY

DEFENCE SCAN: PRESIDENTIAL DEFENCE INVESTITURE CEREMONY

Digging Past: Anadi Ananta

Digging Past: Anadi Ananta

Japanese PM Kishida praises India’s vaccine help to Cambodia and Thailand under Quad Vaccine Initiative

Japanese PM Kishida praises India’s vaccine help to Cambodia and Thailand under Quad Vaccine Initiative

India-US ties in true sense a partnership of trust, says Prime Minister Narendra Modi

India-US ties in true sense a partnership of trust, says Prime Minister Narendra Modi

How Rahul Gandhi took up a wrong issue to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and gets ‘Jaishankar snub’?

How Rahul Gandhi took up a wrong issue to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and gets ‘Jaishankar snub’?

  • Circulation
  • Advertise
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy

© Bharat Prakashan (Delhi) Limited.
Tech-enabled by Ananthapuri Technologies

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Bharat
  • World
  • Editorial
  • Analysis
  • Opinion
  • Defence
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Business
  • RSS in News
  • Special Report
  • Sci & Tech
  • Entertainment
  • Education
  • Books
  • Interviews
  • Travel
  • Health
  • Obituary
  • Subscribe
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Circulation
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy

© Bharat Prakashan (Delhi) Limited.
Tech-enabled by Ananthapuri Technologies