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India, Malaysia to sign labour pact

SINGAPORE: India and Malaysia on Monday agreed to sign, within the next few months, a comprehensive memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the deployment and welfare of their respective workers in each other’s domain.

The MoU was finalised at the political level during the visit to Kuala Lumpur by Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi. The signing is expected to take place during the planned visit to New Delhi by Malaysian Minister for Human Resources S. Subramanian towards the end of this year or early next year.

Dr. Subramanian told The Hindu over telephone from Kuala Lumpur that the MoU would outline “the overall framework of policy and principles” for the recruitment and placement of workers as also their job conditions and welfare. In a separate telephonic comment, Mr. Ravi said the MoU, applicable to “both sides,” would help ensure the “protection” of Indian workforce in Malaysia, now estimated at about 1.5 lakhs. The “same principles” of protection would govern the deployment of Malaysian workers in India, said Dr. Subramanian.

Asked whether all contentious issues, such as a baseline wage-norm for the Indian labour force in Malaysia, were now resolved, he said “technical” details and modalities would be determined by the proposed Joint Working Group. The MoU would only reflect the policy direction, he indicated, without elaborating. Within this context, Malaysia would now appoint a Labour Attache at its mission in Chennai to facilitate the passage of Indian workers to his country, Dr. Subramanian said.

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