Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Kuwait
The successful official visit to Kuwait from 6-8 April 2009 by the Hon’ble
Vice President of India Shri M. Hamid Ansari and Smt. Ansari, has boosted
India-Kuwait ties to a qualitatively new level and I look forward to working
with all concerned in advancing them even further.
Since arriving in Kuwait in March this year, I have been received with much
warmth and affection by the Kuwaiti leadership, officials and people. This is
a reflection of the high esteem in which India and the Indian community in
Kuwait are held here. It has made my assignment in Kuwait even more
pleasant.
The Indian community in Kuwait has acquired a solid reputation for being
disciplined, hard working, efficient, and law-abiding. Your contribution to
the development of Kuwait is widely respected. Your enterprise and talents
are contributing to the prosperity of Kuwait as well as that of yourselves and
your families.
Many of you have visited my office to welcome me to Kuwait and I thank you
once again for your good wishes. I also appreciate your enthusiastic response
in attending the community Coordination Meeting that I convened at the
Embassy last evening.
At the outset, I would like to draw your attention to two ongoing innovative
insurance schemes, one of which is comparatively new and may not have
caught your attention.
As you well know, many Indian nationals are employed in low skilled jobs in
Kuwait and new arrivals come here every month to take up jobs in the
domestic and private sectors. Such persons generally fall in the ECR
(Emigration Clearance Required) category and are required to take
emigration clearance before they leave India for jobs abroad. For their
benefit, the Government of India had introduced the Pravasi Bharatiya Bima
Yojana (PBBY) in 2003, amended in 2006 and 2008. All Indian nationals
falling in ECR Category are required to subscribe to the PBBY insurance
policy before they are granted Emigration Clearance. The insurance
premium in this regard is usually paid by the manpower recruiting agency.
Thus, all Indian nationals in ECR Category coming to Kuwait with proper
employment contracts have subscribed to the PBBY policy, valid for two or
three years, which carries attractive benefits, summarized at the end of this
letter. Many Indian workers may not be sensitized to the fact that they
have subscribed to the PBBY scheme and I thank one of the Indian
associations for drawing this aspect to my attention.
While I am disseminating the benefits of the PBBY policy and the insurance
policy for domestic workers, among Indian nationals in the ECR Category
working in Kuwait , I seek your cooperation in also doing so.
Following the signing of a contract with the Kuwait Union of Domestic
Labour Offices, a new shelter for Indian housemaids in distress has started
functioning in Kuwait this year. The rate of resolution of grievances and
repatriation of housemaids at the new shelter has improved substantially. As
a result the number of housemaids in distress who are accommodated at the
Shelter at any given time has reduced substantially.
I would also like to mention the free Health Screening and Awareness Camp
for Indian workers in Kuwait that was conducted at Abassiya , Kuwait , last
month. I laud the Indian doctors, paramedics and association
representatives who volunteer their time on a holiday to guide and screen
their fellow workers in Kuwait . It is also gratifying that the Indian Doctors
Forum would continue the tradition and annually conduct 4 to 6 such free
health screening and awareness camps to benefit Indian workers in Kuwait .
I also congratulate our doctors for the "School Health Program 2009" that
they commenced last month. The health awareness seminar organized last
month by one of the Indian women’s associations was another noteworthy
development. Good health is the greatest possession a person can have and I
hope that such health-related events would firmly place the Indian
community amongst the healthiest expatriate communities in Kuwait .
We have earlier this month upgraded the affidavit forms on the Embassy
website, so that they can be filled up online. This development was
publicised through the media and it seems to have had a positive resonance.
I would now like to turn to the underlying reason for this letter - to inform
the Indian community about the new Indian Passport and Visa Service
Centres that open shortly in Kuwait .
The increase in the number of Kuwaiti and other citizens traveling to India
as a result of our expanding bilateral interaction, as well as the growing
numbers of the Indian community in Kuwait, have made it imperative that
there be a strengthened response from the Embassy of India in Kuwait. The
present Embassy premises in Kuwait were designed for an Indian community
of about 100,000; when we took over the Indian Embassy building in 1992,
the Indian community in Kuwait had already grown to about 120,000; since
then it has increased to 579,000. This has resulted in tremendous pressure
on services and space, requiring a matching enhancement in passport, visa
and consular services offered by this Embassy. The space available in the
Embassy was a complete mismatch and grossly inadequate for addressing the
situation. While some improvements in facilities were implemented, the
scale of the congestion at the Embassy consular hall arising out of a huge
number of daily visitors, was simply overwhelming.
- Mujamma Unood, 4th floor, Office No. 25-26 Makka Street , Fahaheel ,
Kuwait . Telephone: 23912352. Telefax: 23912354.
Again, responding to a voiced public need, both Service Centres are located
at venues that are regularly served by bus and other public transport.
Moreover, considerable free parking space is available in their vicinity. With
most offices shutting down in Kuwait by 1600 hrs, there would in fact be a
large number of vacant parking spaces available in the evening at both
locations.
We hope that the two new Centres will provide the community with better
and more efficient passport and visa services. I have addressed a press
conference on the subject on May 21, 2009 , to spread the word through the
media. Moreover, major employers of Indian workers in Kuwait have also
been requested to disseminate the same information amongst their Indian
employees. The change was also focused upon at the well attended
Coordination Meeting with the Indian Community that I hosted last evening.
I would request you too to publicize the functioning from 27th May 2009 of
the two Indian Passport and Visa Service Centers in Kuwait , so that more
people are made aware of the change.
I welcome your sharing this letter with other members of the Indian
community in Kuwait and thank you in advance for doing so.
Ajai Malhotra
Ambassador of India
Kuwait