KUWAIT: Kuwait’s Residency Affairs Department has lifted the ban on recruitment of Indian female domestic helpers after India government lifted a bank guarantee clause that was imposed two years ago. The decision will pave the way for hiring female domestic helpers from India which was halted following a dispute over the issue between the two friendly countries. The government of India scrapped the $2,500 bank guarantee measure that was enforced for recruitment of Indian female domestic workers for Kuwait. 

The India government had mandated in November 2014 that every employer who wanted to recruit an Indian female domestic worker had to provide a bank guarantee of $2,500 (KD730) with the Indian Embassy, drawing protests from Kuwaiti authorities. The issue was even raised in Kuwait National Assembly and several parliament members had called for stringent measures against India such as halting of recruitment of manpower from India. The cancellation of the policy measure and subsequent lifting of ban by the Kuwait government bring an end to a two-year-old dispute between the friendly countries Kuwait and India. 

Importantly, India’s Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar is arriving in Kuwait on Sept 20, heading a high-level delegation to attend the Joint Working Group (JWG) in which many crucial bilateral issues including recruitment of maids are expected to come up for discussion. Indian Ambassador Sunil Jain had told Kuwait Times that the measure was withdrawn by India primarily because it was not acceptable to Kuwait and was proven ineffective.

According to one estimate, around 950,000 Indians are in Kuwait. The Indian embassy had clarified in a press release that the recruitment will, however, be regulated through six government recruitment agencies. They are: Non-Resident Keralites Affairs Department (NORKA-ROOTS), Overseas Development and Employment Promotion Consultants Ltd ((ODEPC), Overseas Manpower Corporation Limited (OMCL), Uttar Pradesh Financial Corporation, government of Uttar Pradesh, Telanga Overseas Manpower Company (TOMCOM), and the Overseas Manpower Company, Andhra Pradesh.

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