ens of thousands of women who migrate from Andhra Pradesh to the Gulf every year to work mostly as domestic helps are paid less than their counterparts from nations like Philippines and Sri Lanka.
More than 40,000 women emigrate to the Gulf from East and West Godavari districts alone every year. Sadly enough, most of them are ill-equipped to handle the new surroundings and the nature of their work. Cases of abuse of domestic helps by owners surface at regular intervals.
Also, questions abound on the channel they choose to migrate. The agencies they bank on to move abroad could be sometimes illegal.
Moreover, the migrants are hardly aware of the legal process involved while travelling abroad. Therefore, it is easy for agencies to make them follow the channel that appears convenient and profitable for the former, even at the cost of safety and security.
The Overseas Manpower Company Andhra Pradesh (OMCAP) Limited, in association with UN Women, Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) and Indian Centre for Migration, is trying to put in place a fool-proof mechanism to help potential migrant workers reach their destinations, find decent jobs and lead a life of dignity.
“In most cases, the maids are employed on a two-year contract. Of the nearly 40,000 migrant house maids here, 50 per cent of them are repeaters returning home and taken along with them a new set of workers,” says K. Venkata Swamy, General Manager of OMCAP, Andhra Pradesh.
Orientation
Besides designing a pre-departure orientation programme wherein the migrant workers are imparted in key areas like hygiene, use of sophisticated kitchen appliances like refrigerators, washing machines, mixers and grinders, knowledge of cooking, telephone etiquette and functional knowledge of Arabic language.
“We want to do something like what the Philippines government is doing. It trains maids, chauffeurs, mechanics and gardeners every year with the purpose of launching them into long-term service abroad,” says Mr. Swamy.
High demand
There is a high demand for domestic maids in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and United Arab Emirates.
But the rulers there are vexed with the middle-men menace and want the Government intervention to put in place a structural pattern, he says.
In most cases, the maids are employed on a two-year contract
K. Venkata Swamy,
General Manager,
OMCAP
