Wednesday, March 22 2006 16:26 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Dubai: Indian government is planning a series of measures to stop the ill-treatment meted out to its nationals working in the Gulf, including more stringent regulations to curb illegal recruitment, Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi said.

After attending the annual meeting of Indian envoys from the Gulf, he told sources in Doha that "I saw all the ambassadors in the meeting extremely concerned about the welfare of the Indian communities here. This is a very positive signal."

The meeting suggested that all job contracts involving unskilled and semi-skilled workers should be attested by the Indian missions in the respective countries as a necessary pre-requisite for recruitment. "The proposal was pending for long and it was high time it was implemented," the minister said adding that the issue as a top priority.

Also, a decision by the Indian government was underway to raise the staff at Indian embassies in the Gulf considering the immense pressure on consular services, he said.

"There is a decision but I have to push for its speedy implementation," he was quoted as saying by the 'Peninsula' newspaper. The meeting also proposed to introduce a welfare scheme for non-resident Indians returning to India after spending long years here.

The government had already introduced a mandatory insurance scheme for unskilled and semi-skilled Indian workers being recruited to foreign countries.

However, the problem of those who are already in the Gulf and are not covered by this scheme need to be addressed, the minister said.