Emigration Bill 2021

In News

Recently, the Ministry of External Affairs has put Emigration Bill 2021, in the public domain for inputs.

About

• The bill seeks a long-overdue opportunity to reform the recruitment process for nationals seeking employment abroad especially countries in Gulf or West Asia etc.
• The bill will soon be introduced in Parliament.

Emigration Act 1983

• Currently, Labour Recruitment is done through this Act.
• The act talks about Labour Migration abroad ( Especially west Asia and Gulf Countries) for jobs.
• The recruiting Agency, middlemen should be Government certified.
• It talks in detail about the Recruitment charges and also the minimum service conditions to be provided.
• It sought to protect the rights of individuals going abroad for jobs.

Emigration Bill 2021

• The bill was introduced in June 2021.
• It will replace and improvise over the previous act, Emigration Act, 1983.
• Emigrants are defined as Indian citizens who seek to or have departed out of India for employment.
• New policy division: A new emigration policy division is launched under the Ministry of External Affairs. It establishes help desks and welfare committees for migrant workers
• The draft Bill seeks to create two authorities: 
  • Bureau of Emigration Policy and Planning (BEPP): Its functions will consist of preparing policies on matters related to the welfare of emigrants and negotiating labour and social security agreements with destination countries. 
  • Bureau of Emigration Administration (BEA): it will work on maintaining a database of Indian emigrants, and implementing measures and programmes for the welfare of emigrants.   
• Nodal committees established in states and union territories (UTs): They are set up under Chief Emigration Officer. They work for initiating action to prosecute entities involved in the trafficking of persons and undertaking pre-departure orientation programmes and skill up-gradation programmes for prospective emigrants.
• Accreditation of employers: Any employer who intends to recruit an emigrant must apply for accreditation with the competent authority.  Such accreditation will be valid for a period of five years.
• Punishment: workers will be punished by confiscating their passports and imposing fines up to Rs. 50,000 if they violate the provisions of the Bill.
• Human resources agencies: They will be registered by a Competent Authority and are engaged in recruitment for an employer. Appeal against decisions of the competent authority with regard to registration of these agencies will lie with the central government

Issues that Migrant workers face

• Large recruitment charges
• Contract substitution
• Deception and passport retention
• Non-payment or underpayment of wages
• Poor living condition
• Discrimination
• Other ill treatments
• Medical problems like heart attacks and respiratory failures are reported as the major reason for their deaths without any explanation.

Significance of Bill

• It increases the accountability of brokers and other intermediaries who are involved in labour hiring.
• Exploitative behaviour of middlemen and Recruitment Agencies towards emigrants could be curtailed by this Act.

Challenges in the Bill

• The human rights framework is not acknowledged and included in the Bill: this is the reason migrants face a lot of exploitation towards their own self and their family.
• International Standards are not adhered to: ILO’s general principles recognise that employers and not workers should bear recruitment payments.
• Not a very female inclusive bill: The gender biases and harassment faced by women are not taken into account in the Bill.
• High worker services charge makes the migrants more vulnerable to indebtedness.
• Lack of worker representation: The Bill provides limited space for worker representation or civil society engagement in the policy and welfare bodies talked about in the Bill.

Conclusion

• The new Bill though better than the Emigration Act 1983, more reforms are needed to protect Indian workers.

 Source: TH