Patil launches workers 24|7 helpline

A multilingual helpline with counseling service in four different Indian languages apart from English was launched by visiting Indian President Pratibha Patil to assist her distressed countrymen working in the UAE.

Those Indian blue collar workers in need of critical assistance can call the helpline at 800 INDIA (800 46342). The 24 hour helpline became operational at 7pm on Tuesday and has its centre located in Bur Dubai.

A midnight call from this reporter was attended at the second attempt wherein the voice from the other side said, “Welcome to the Indian Workers Resource Centre (IWRC) operated by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs.”

Meanwhile the Indian consulate’s hotline mobile number that was until date being used for women and housemaids in distress and counseling for stress and depression: 050 9433111 also continued to ring without any response.

As for the new hotline, callers are given an option of choosing either English, Hindi, Malayalam, Telugu and Tamil. The executive manning the centre said the line became active at 7pm and that he had already received many calls during the first few hours. More than a dozen people will be manning the call centre.

The new centre aims to provide psychological and legal assistance, especially among the low income Indian expatriates.

The centre will also manage a shelter for the runaway housemaids and deserted housewives in the UAE.

It will be the first of its kind outside India and aims "to serve the Indian workers community in the United Arab Emirates," officials said. There are more than 1.7million Indians living and working in the UAE, majority of who are blue collar workers.

Majority of complaints raised by blue collar workers are of delay in payment of wages and unhygienic living conditions.

Meanwhile the New York based Human Rights Watch urged the visiting Indian President to take up the issue with the relevant authorities.

In a statement released on Monday it said the workers must be protected from unpaid wages, indebtedness from recruitment fees…, confiscation of passports and hazardous working conditions.

Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch said,  "For too long, the Indian government has simply treated these workers as sources of remittance income……..."

Most Indian blue collar workers have alleged that they have to pay exorbitant amounts to agents in India in order to obtain a visa to travel to the Gulf.  Many times these workers pledge their agricultural land or even take a loan for very high interest rate in order to pay the Indian agents.

The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs’ efforts to crackdown on such agents have so far not yielded any meaningful results.

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