Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: INDIA may amend the Emigration Act of 1983 as part of efforts to meet the demands of the global workplace and to promote legal mobility while discouraging non-legal migration, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said.
Jaishankar described the current Emigration Act as outdated, noting it was created to address the needs of a specific geography in a different era. “Times have changed, and our vistas have expanded,” he said on May 6.
The Government has launched a range of skill training, vocational education and professional preparation efforts to make Indian workers more productive in the contemporary era, he said at an event to mark the launch of the Global Access to Talent from India (GATI) Foundation.
Noting that India has not developed or leveraged its human resources to the extent it could have in the past, Jaishankar said, “Conceptually, it is vital that we promote legal mobility and strongly discourage, I would argue even prohibit, non-legal ones.”
“We need to be more promotional and aware of new possibilities, even while taking care of the vulnerable. This issue is currently being examined by the government,” Jaishankar added. At the same time, the Government has taken a range of steps to give Indian citizens the “confidence to fully explore the global workplace”, such as the ability to carry out evacuation operations, and measures to back up nationals in difficult situations such as the replacement passports, payment of wages or preventing mistreatment by foreign employers, or ensuring the rights of Indians abroad, reported Hindustan Times.
“From establishing an effective grievance portal to creating a responsive fund for the needs of the vulnerable, we have sought to institutionalised…taking care of Indians abroad,” he said.
