First Batch of Indian Workers Leave for Israel | 03 Apr 2024

Why in News?

Recently, the first batch of Indian construction workers bound for jobs in Israel were flagged off by Israeli ambassador Naor Gilon and government officials.

Key Points

  • The Israeli government raised an urgent request for construction workers in November 2023 and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had discussed fast-tracking the process with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December 2023.
    • This was because the country faced major labour shortages after it banned thousands of Palestinians from working in Israel following the terror strikes by Hamas on 7th October 2023.
  • According to the National Skill Development Council, the first group were recruited over the past few months during a massive drive in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
    • They are part of a requisitioned 10,000-strong workforce that will be flown to Israel over the next few weeks, with batches due to fly almost every day on board Air India and even chartered flights.
  • According to the Ministry of External Affairs the workers were travelling to Israel under a government-to-government arrangement, as part of the India-Israel mobility partnership signed in 2023.
    • As Israel is not on the list of “Emigration Clearance Required” (ECR) countries, registration for the workers is not mandatory on the MEA’s eMigrate portal.
    • As per the Framework Agreement and Implementation Protocols signed with Israel, Indian workers shall enjoy equal treatment with respect to labour rights as Israeli citizens and shall be provided with proper lodging, medical insurance and relevant social security coverage as well as wages and benefits as set out in law.

The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC)

  • It is a non-profit public limited company established on July 31, 2008, under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956.
  • The Ministry of Finance established NSDC as a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model.
  • The Government of India, through the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), owns 49% of NSDC, while the private sector owns the remaining 51%.
  • The organisation provides funding to develop scalable and successful initiatives for vocational training.

The eMigrate portal

  • It is fully operational since its launch in 2015 and provides for registration of Recruitment Agents (RAs), Foreign Employers (FEs) and issue of Emigration Clearance (EC) to prospective emigrants.
  • It is a comprehensive online system developed to facilitate safe and legal migration of Indian workers to 18 Emigration Check Required (ECR) countries.
    • These 18 countries are Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan, Libya, Lebanon, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar, South Sudan, Syria, Sudan, Thailand, UAE and Yemen.