Nitaqat: A Challenge to the Gulf Malayalees and Unemployed Youth of Kerala

Introduction

       Our story begins around 1930s where huge oil wells were discovered in Eastern Arabian regions. Extraction process that started around 1950s demanded hard work and cheap labour. With reckless confidence and ample exposure to foreign trade and sea transport, 1960s witnessed a large migration of Keralites to Gulf regions legally and illegally. To explain the significance and change brought to the State by this phenomenon, I need to tell a story. Just eight years after the Gulf boom, to be specific 1973, a penniless young man with only a diploma in Business Management & Administration migrated to Abu Dhabi in search of a job. [SLIDE 2] He is M. A Yousuf Ali, now the Managing Director of EMKE LuLu Group of companies. [SLIDE 3] He is the richest Keralite and according to Forbes, 24^th Richest Indian and 737^th Richest man in the world. [SLIDE 4] He employs the largest number of Indians outside India [SLIDE 5,6]. Another example would be Ravi Pillai [SLIDE 7] who was recently in news for arranging the most expensive wedding of Kerala. If you take the whole Forbes list of richest Indians you can find six Keralites, out of which five of them made their fortunes by migrating to the Gulf regions.  These are not mere tycoons who enjoy their life abroad. The initiatives they take to uplift the youth of our nation are rather inspiring. They conduct local recruitment drives in Kerala to give employment and a good life to the youth. They start up many investments back home that bring foreign investments, employment opportunities and world class services. [BACK SLIDE 5, 6] One could say that it was the Gulf boom that saved the state of Kerala from chaos and poverty.

       Gulf boom came with its fair share of advantages and disadvantages. [SLIDE 8] A news article on The Economic Times stated  

Now some ten per cent of Kerala's population or about 2.4 million Malayalees are sending home about one lakh crore every year from gulf... The Gulf migration undoubtedly is as big an economic liberating force for the Malayalees as the Christian missionaries, Sri Narayana Guru and the Marxists were in the social sphere. It made Malayalees upwardly mobile, rich, entrepreneurial, speculative and, of course, arrogant and regressive. (Sanandakumar)

        Influx of foreign capital to the state improved its real estate, medical, retail and education sectors. The travel boom it created paved way to the construction of three international airports in the state, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode; along with a fourth currently under construction in Kannur. Regarding the remittance to Kerala, the article Migration and Development:  The Kerala Experience states: [SLIDE 9]

The total remittances in 2007 were amounted to 20.2 percent of the Net State Domestic Product (NSDP). It was 3.85 times the amount the state received from the central government. (Rajan and Zacharia)

       Gulf boom affected the social structure of Kerala society too. Gulf grooms were in great demand for marriage. Society at that time thought that if one member of the family was working in the Gulf region then that family was saved. Many youngsters after finishing their education soon applied for Gulf Visa. With their salaries they built their new home, married off sisters and found a great life partner. Professions they chose ranged from electricians to nurses. It saw the decline of agriculture in the state and prominence of certain communities in the State politics. Before the boom, political parties had members from upper caste Hindu community, but after the phenomenon a section of society that were considered as low castes like Ezhava and minorities like Muslims and Christians gained prominence in Kerala politics with the help of wealth from overseas. This also brings another aspect.

K. Ravi Raman writes " ... in Kerala, it was specifically the relatively underprivileged classes, save the Dalits and the indigenous tribes, who moved to the Middle East. (Raman)"It's disheartening to see how the Gulf boom that saved Kerala couldn't uplift the Dalit and Tribal communities.  Problems just don't end there. Gulf migration caused severe mental discomfort to many expatriates. Policies resulted in loss of jobs, loss of job resulted in depression and anxiety, separation from home increased tension among wife and husband. Some scholars suggest that Gulf boom increased trust issues among the couples, impotency and divorces. The arid and industrial working conditions of the gulf region affected the physical health of the migrants too. The "new rich" families created conflicts within relatives , increase of vegetable prices, service charges and price of  land properties in the State. Muslim communities of North Kerala gained significantly from Gulf resources; and Medical and engineering colleges across the state implemented NRI quota seats for rich students. The article in The Economic Times also quote the words of a great scholar S. Irudaya Rajan "It is an irony that many Malayalees, who left Kerala for Gulf countries for lack of entrepreneurship have themselves turned into entrepreneurs in these countries" (Sanandakumar). Thus, Gulf migration saw its ups and downs till 2011, after which, there was a sudden change in the dynamics of immigration.

Nitaqat Policy [SLIDE 10]

       2011 saw the introduction and implementation of the Nitaqat policy in Saudi Arabia, one of the largest employers of Indians (approx. 2.88 million). The word "Nitaqat" means ranges, zones or limits. It was implemented on June 2011 by Ministry of Labour of Saudi Arabia. It aims to achieve the goal of the Fourth Development Plan (1985- 1989) by 2013, which intends to replace the foreign employees of private sectors with Saudi nationals. Private companies with 20 or more employees were categorized into various zones marked by colour codes namely: Platinum, Green, Yellow and Red, depending upon the number of Saudi natives they employed in their companies. [SLIDE 11] To attain subsidies and offers from government, a private company needed to come under at least the green zone. This policy affected both expatriates and company owners. On a government level India had to negotiate with Saudi Arabia for amnesty and relaxation of rules. [SLIDE 12] Many foreign nationals faced deportation and companies lost cheap labour and faced fine from government (cheap when compared to the salary that must be given to a Saudi national). [SLIDE 13] Such policies had its side effects. Many graduates native to Saudi Arabia lacked interest to work in places of hard labour and lacked skills in professional sectors. Many preferred behind-the-desk jobs. Many owners complained that they were stuck with a section of employees who did not care for the job. They could not fire them yet they could not promote them.  Due to a policy that stated a physically challenged Saudi was equal to four Saudi nationals, this further created the exploitation of such people. Many problems cropped up in Saudi Arabia after that.

       Coming back to India and specifically Kerala, anxiety awaited the people who returned. [SLIDE 14] It's the dream of any Gulf expatriate to make enough money, meet the needs of the family, voluntarily retire and come back home to enjoy the rest of the life peacefully. After 2011, such a dream turned into a house of cards.  The Indian Express published: "As per government estimate around 1.41 lakh Indians left Saudi Arabia just between April 6 and November 3, 2013." (End of an Era?)

       [SLIDE 15] I am talking about millions who spent a large chunk of their life in a desert, far away from family, to bring money to their home and nation. They were absent for the birth of their child, marriage of their daughter or son and death of their father or mother. They see their wives or husbands once in two or three years. Though government made many policies to restrict exploitation, aspirants still get tricked and lose money in Visa fraud cases and fake employment opportunities; and are left with nothing but hopes and dreams. [SLIDE 16] These are a group of youth that fight for voting rights outside their nation, a group of youth that work under inhuman conditions; [SLIDE 17] a group of youth that work for our nation outside the national boundary. The Government of Kerala is baffled about the rehabilitation, accommodation and return of this skilled yet unemployed force. Back home the competition gets fierce though employment vacancies show no increase.  [SLIDE 18]Even with the Nitaqat implementation, people still try to go back, to earn a living. When discussing about this issue one must also note a staggering number of women expatriates too, who work as nurses and domestic maids under bonds.  It's interesting to think how the youth empowerment program of one nation affected the dreams of another nation. This is not about whom to blame but what to do! [SLIDE 19]

To conclude I would like to point out the necessity to create new sectors of employment in India. [SLIDE 20] The Nitaqat issue shows us how we can never depend on another nation for a steady and permanent financial support. [SLIDE 21]  For future needs we need to create employment opportunities right here right now. It's amazing how many Indians are professionally skilled but underutilized. [SLIDE 22] A nation that uses its resources well can definitely achieve development and welfare of its citizens. Temporary solace of a foreign land has resulted in so much of brain-drain, thus intensifying the dependency on another nation. [SLIDE 23] Only strong nations can forge strong relationships. We dream of a self sufficient and powerful India run by a future generation with great insight and who always feel at home. [SLIDE 24]

Bibliography

·        End of an Era? Newspaper report. New Delhi: The Indian Express, 2014.

·        North, Peter and Harvey Tripp. Culture Shock ! Saudi Arabia. New York: Times Printers, 2009.

·        Rajan, S Irudaya and K C Zacharia. Migration and Development: The Kerala Experience. Survey. Thiruvananthapuram: Centre for Development Studies, 2007.

·        Raman, K Ravi. "‘Currents and eddies’: Indian-Middle East." Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society (2012): 1- 17.

·        Sanandakumar, S. The Economic Times. 3 October 2015. 17 March 2016 <http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/a-fifty-year-old-phenomenon-explained-malayalee-migration-to-gulf-builds-the-new-kerala/articleshow/49201357.cms>.