A NEW scheme is being initiated by the Indian government to provide its nationals living in Bahrain with legal aid to fight labour disputes and rights violations.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the project, which would benefit nationals living in all Gulf countries, during a landmark visit to the UAE.

The welfare scheme would legally help thousands of Indian workers in Bahrain who approach diplomats on a regular basis with complaints of mistreatment, including human rights abuses, contractual violations and travel bans.

Details of the project were not revealed, but the Indian Embassy in Bahrain said they were in talks with officials in New Delhi to learn more about the implementation process.

“We have a system of offering legal support to nationals in Bahrain and we must see how this scheme could be used to further refine it,” first secretary Ram Singh told the GDN yesterday.

“We are also yet to understand if the scheme is different from the existing Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF).”

Indian Community Relief Fund (ICRF) chairman Bhagwan Asarpota said he was hopeful the Indian government would effectively implement the scheme in Bahrain.

“The welfare scheme is an excellent move and the embassies and other missions like the ICRF will be happy to work on the ground to implement it effectively with the support of the government,” Mr Asarpota told the GDN.

“The scheme should be given utmost publicity in the simplest possible manner, without complicating it so that the deserving strata of the community benefits.”

Bahrain Chapter of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (BCICAI) senior member Sumit Dhadda said the announcement was “good news for non-resident Indians (NRI)”.

“The fund, as announced by Mr Modi, will be set up to help NRIs who are in jail, which is indeed a welcome move,” he said.

Relief

“This could mean that those who need lawyers and are not able to afford it will get help through this fund.

“It will be a relief for many Indians who are in trouble and facing travel ban in GCC countries.”

Mr Modi, who has become the first Indian prime minister to visit the Emirates in 34 years, also urged top businesses to invest in India, promising them immediate investment opportunities worth a trillion dollars.

Y K Almoayyed and Sons group chief financial officer and former BCICAI chairman Alok Gupta said the visit to the UAE would benefit all Gulf states.

“Mr Modi’s visit will improve business relations and will lead to flow of investments in India,” he said.

“His ‘Make in India’ campaign will give opportunity to invest in India and highlighted opportunities of investment like solar energy and power generation among others, which has a huge scope of growth in future.

“The strong bilateral relations between India and the UAE will benefit the GCC as a whole, including Bahrain.”

Mr Gupta was among the many Indians who travelled to the UAE to welcome Mr Modi at an event held at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Mr Modi also announced that the Indian mission in the UAE has set up an e-migrant portal to help Indian migrant workers and an online platform ‘MADAD’ to assist the diaspora.

raji@gdn.com.bh