MoU signed between India and Kuwait for employment of domestic workers

India and Kuwait have come to an agreement and signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that brings Indian domestic workers in the Gulf nation within the ambit of a legal framework that streamlines their recruitment and provides them with the protection of the law.

Approximately one million Indians reside in Kuwait and India is one of Kuwait’s largest trading partners. The Gulf is a dominant supplier of oil to India.

The MoU was signed by Sibi George, the Indian Ambassador and Majdi Ahmad Al-Dhafiri, the deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Kuwait, on Thursday in the company of the visiting External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Kuwaiti equivalent Sheikh Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah.

The collective festivities of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations among India and Kuwait were launched at the meeting. The ministers of both countries embraced the signing of the MoU which will establish an employment contract guaranteeing the rights and obligations of the employer and the domestic workers.

The MoU endeavours to build a mechanism for 24-hour assistance for domestic workers. In addition to that, it also ensures an establishment of a joint committee that will periodically review, assess and follow up the implementation of the MoU in annual meetings that are to be conducted.