Saudi Arabia: 'Saudisation' may affect opportunities for Indians
Indian migrants are likely to be hit by Saudi Arabia's revised 'Nitaqat' scheme, which aims to provide more employment opportunities for Saudi nationals. Under the revised scheme, only a few organizations satisfying conditions based on number of Saudi-employees will be eligible to seek new migrant visas. The new rules come as Indian migration to Saudi is already declining. Let's know more on this!
What is the Nitaqat system?
First introduced in 2011, the Nitaqat system classifies organizations into platinum, green, yellow and red, based on the parameters such as number of Saudi employees, their retention rate, pay-scale etc, with highest weightage being provided to the number of Saudi employees.
Indians' migration to Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia had emerged as a favourable destination for Indian blue-collar workers in the past few decades. However, a dip in migration numbers has been observed since the introduction of Nitaqat. Saudi Arabia merely issued around 1.65 lakh immigration clearances to Indian migrants in 2016, marking a 46% dip from 2015 figures. Further, only 32,995 migrant visas have been issued between January-June, 2017.
Top Indian migrant-origin states to Saudi Arabia
While UP contributed the largest number of Indian migrants to Saudi in 2015 and 2016, Bihar currently occupies the top spot. West Bengal is ranked second, Rajasthan third and Kerala has been ranked fourth.
How does this affect Indians?
Organizations in the construction and hospitality sector, which employ a large number of Indians are unlikely to fall in one of the higher categories, limiting the number of visas that can be issued to Indians. The new rules effectively mark the beginning of the end of the 'Gulf boom'. The resulting loss of revenue from Gulf migration can negatively impact the Indian economy.
