The Indian government came up with a decision to reduce the Minimum Referral Wages of
migrants to Gulf countries by 30 to 50 percentage that shatter the dreams of millions of
current and future Indian migrant workers. According to two separate circulars published on
September 8th and 21st, 2020 by the Ministry of External Affairs, the minimum referral wages of Indians who work in Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and UAE has been reduced to 200 USD
(approximately 15000) and that of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to 245 USD and 324 USD
respectively. It aims at workers who are employed in specific jobs such as cleaning, drivers,
helpers and other construction workers. The recruitment agencies and the employers will
be the only beneficiaries of this decision as it allows them to more recruit cheap labourers
from the country and provides a comparative advantage among other countries of origin.
CIMS along with our partners Emigrant Welfare Forum (EWF) and Telangana Joint Action
Committee (JAC) is running an ongoing campaign against this decision.