New Delhi: As 92,000 Indians in Saudi Arabia have been given Emergency Certificates to enable them return home over the kingdom’s Nitaqat work policy, very few of them are leaving. Most are using an extended grace period announced by Saudi Arabia to regularise their stay and switch jobs.
According to Indian Ambassador Hamid Ali Rao, the grace period ends on November 3, after which the kingdom would become very strict in implementing Nitaqat. Those overstaying or on invalid work permits would face arrest, huge fines and deportation with a ban on their return.
Under Nitaqat or naturalization programme, private sector companies in Saudi Arabia are mandated to employ a certain percentage of locals. In fact, said Rao, the number of Indians had grown from 2.88 million to 2.89 million as of June 30.
The Indian embassy has tried to reach out to thousands of Indians through social media, 24X7 help desks, volunteers, the vernacular media and mobile units posted at exit visa offices to help Indians check their status and rectify it if required.
Fanning across to cities, towns and even remote villages in Saudi Arabia, volunteers working with the embassy managed to contact Indians staying for long years in villages in the kingdom, asking them to check their work status and correct it ahead of the deadline.
More than 200 companies have approached the embassy offering jobs for Indians, and a job fair was held in collaboration with the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce.
IANS
