The Kerala government has set up an official committee under former additional chief secretary and Infrastructure Kerala Limited (Inkel) managing director T Balakrishnan to prepare a scheme to facilitate return migrants to take up self-employment ventures.
The committee was set up on the basis of the recommendations made by a cabinet sub-committee headed by Minister for Non-resident Keralites Affairs (Norka) K C Joseph.
The panel was set up to recommend a package for rehabilitating Keralites returning from Saudi Arabia following g implementation of Saudisation programme called Nitaqat.
Finance Minister K M Mani had in his budget for the fiscal 2013-14 proposed a contributory scheme offering loan equivalent to their subscription with subsidised interest to the migrant returnees to set up business units.
The Norka minister said that the panel has been asked to prepare a scheme offering interest-free and subsidised loans to the returnees. He said that the government had proposed interest-free loan up to Rs1 million and priority sector low interest rate for loans beyond that. Joseph said this was the maximum the government could towards the rehabilitation of the return migrants. “We cannot provide job to all returnees. We can only facilitate self-employment,” he added.
Joseph is expected to seek the opinion of representatives of Keralities organisations on the rehabilitation scheme when he visits Saudi from April 27.
He is part of a high level Indian ministerial delegation led by Overseas Indians Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi.
Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahmed would also be part of the delegation, which would deliberate in detail the entire gamut of the issues concerning the expatriates with Saudi Labour Minister. They will also make arrangements for the smooth return of Indians who are not in a position to continue in Saudi Arabia.
The government of India has already offered free airfare to the needy sections of the returnees and directed the Indian missions to ease the consular formalities.
Though the deferment of the implementation of Nitaqat by three months by the Saudi authorities has allowed time to the Indians to correct their status the associations have indicated a huge exodus due because of Nitaqat as well as the crackdown against illegal residents.