look news india
Kuwait Fire Tragedy: 50 people including 49 Indians have died in a massive fire that broke out in a multi-storey building in Mangaf city of Kuwait on Wednesday morning. Most of the dead include Indian citizens from Kerala, Tamil Nadu and North Indian states whose age is between 20 to 50 years.
One million Indians live in Kuwait
Nearly 1 million Indians live in Kuwait. That is, 21% of the total population and 30% of the total labor force are Indians. Most of them do wage work. Kuwait is heavily dependent on Indian labor for carpenters, masons, domestic workers, fabricators, drivers and courier delivery boys.
According to the recent data released by Kuwait's PACI, the population of Kuwait was around 48 lakhs as of December 2023. Out of these, only 15 lakh people are locals. According to the report, there are more than 33 lakh tourists in Kuwait in total. Of these, 61% are laborers and workers. The Indian community is the largest tourist community in Kuwait.
Brutal labor and worse place to live
According to Ahela, Indian workers live in very poor conditions there. The accommodation provided to the workers is sometimes not even complete. The stressed area has rooms and people live in it beyond capacity. However, Indian workers prefer the Gulf countries, not only because there is a high demand for unskilled Indian workers, but also because the wages there are much higher than in India.
According to many reports, less skilled Indian workers with less experience are given bumper salaries there. According to the rules of the International Labor Organization, Minimum Referral Wage (MRW) has been fixed for Indian workers working abroad. It is applicable in Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
In 2016, the Indian government set a salary range of Rs 300-1,050 for 64 job categories for Indian workers travelling to Kuwait.
Wages are higher in Kuwait than in Asian countries
Even in the Gulf countries, the MRW in Oman and Qatar is slightly better than that offered in Kuwait. On the other hand, salaries in Kuwait are much higher than other Asian countries like Indonesia, Malaysia and Iraq.
However, to avail MRW, Indian labourers have to register on the e-Migrate portal of the Ministry of External Affairs and travel under the terms and conditions of the respective labour mobility agreements of different countries. For instance, in Kuwait, the wages for carpenters, masons, drivers and pipefitters are $300 per month while the wages for heavy vehicle drivers and domestic workers are slightly better.