Matter has been taken up with Kuwaiti govt: MEA

PUNE: Following the chaos about Indian engineers’ fate in Kuwait, officials from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) have assured that the matter has been taken up with authorities of Kuwaiti government and action has been initiated in this regard.

Sakal Times reported that thousands of Indian engineers have been staring at job-losses for several months, as Public Authority of Manpower (PAM), Kuwait has announced that it is mandatory to obtain NOC (No Objection Certificate) from Kuwait Society of Engineers (KSE) for renewing their work permits. 

KSE has stated that only engineers who have studied in colleges recognised by National Board of Accreditation (NBA) will be given NOC, as per the Washington Accord of Indian Government.

From March 2018 several engineers are in the lurch. Only 15-20 per cent of engineering colleges in India has NBA accreditation. Moreover, NBA is not as popular as other accreditations in India, informed Anil Sahasrabudhe, Chairman of All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE).

While officials of MEA reverted to Sakal Times stating that the ministry is aware of the issue. The matter has been taken up with the authorities of the Kuwaiti government. We have informed that NBA handles 20 per cent of the degree accreditation and remaining is handled by other institutions. A list of these institutions has been provided to Kuwaiti government. Response from Kuwaiti government is awaited, stated MEA official.

Meanwhile, hundreds of engineers have lost their jobs and thousands are fearing of job loss, many of their visas are to expire in two weeks or a couple of months.

“Some engineers’ driving licence are being cancelled and many companies have terminated their employees. While few have settled to changing their job designation in the company but their licence has been anyway cancelled,” said one of the Indian nationals at Kuwait on condition of anonymity.

“Although AICTE, Ministry of Human Resource and Development (MHRD) has given a list of colleges, yet PAM and KSE have been stonewalling and delaying to make the decision on the provided list. And our residencies are expiring or the government is giving an extension of three months only,” said another engineer.

While, another engineer who has lost his job has tweeted several ministers including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Minister of External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj, MHRD, Prakash Javadekar, Maharashtra State Education Minister, Vinod Tawde about his termination. 

“MHRD failed to support Indian engineers in Kuwait to obtain NOC from KSE. I didn’t get NOC and lost my job in Kuwait. 12,000 more engineers might be the victims. Vacancies in India are kept for reserved categories and in this condition getting a job on a global level is difficult,” read his tweet.

While he also appreciated the efforts made by Swaraj and Tawde, he is yet called it the Indian government’s failure to protect their fellowmen in Kuwait.