India has inked 12 agreements with destination countries on safe, legal migration, mobility

New Delhi, Dec 9: India has been endeavoring to create an enabling framework for safe and legal migration and mobility for both Indian workers and professionals through bilateral agreements with destination countries, and has successfully concluded 12 such agreements and is in negotiations with several other countries, a top official said today.
The government is updating the Labour Mobility Agreements (LMAs) with Gulf countries and concluding Migration Mobility Partnership Agreements (MMPAs) with developed countries in East Asia and Europe.
“We have successfully concluded 12 such agreements and are in negotiations with several others. New destinations hold the key to success of our international migration policy,” said Sanjay Bhattacharyya, Secretary (CPV&OIA) at the 7th CII National Conference on Skill Development & Livelihood – ‘Reimaging & Reinventing Skill Development Ecosystem for Productivity, Livelihood & Sustainable Growth’.
He said the government is working closely with GCC countries for harmonisation of the migration platforms to facilitate transparent and legal mobility of the Indian workforce.
“The eMigrate portal, a flagship project of the MEA, has already completed testing procedures for integrating with the portals of UAE and Saudi Arabia, and is in discussions with other GCC countries. This process will make it simpler for our workers to migrate to these countries,” he added.
“Our collaboration on the India-EU Common Agenda on Migration and Mobility improved understanding and led to several bilateral agreements that provided better opportunities for Indians in Europe. The EU’s program European Cross-Border Skills Framework (ECBS), on a dedicated ECBS platform, could be a template for our efforts at certification mutual recognition and lifelong learning,” he added.
“Government is building an enabling environment for overseas migrants; the extent to which we translate these frameworks into opportunities will determine our success.
“The need of the hour is two-fold (a) foster and promote skill partnerships, whereby business and private entities have arrangements with counterparts in destination countries for regular and more remunerative migration flows, and (b) focus on new destinations, which are more rewarding than traditional destinations, and build competencies that prepare us for orderly and efficient mobility flows to such destinations,” he said.The government is proactively working towards instilling technical expertise across sectors and across States of India through initiatives such as the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PKVY).
“Overseas migrant workers have benefited through India International Skill Centres, which have private sector partners for skill training and certification. MEA has the Pre-Departure Orientation Training (PDOT), which provides soft skills focused on cultural, social, linguistic aspects of destination countries and also provides information on welfare measures provided through Indian Embassies abroad.
“Over 1 lakh migrants have benefitted from the programme,” he said, adding, “I would like to see the private sector play a bigger role in building competencies of Indian workers for employability overseas.”
“The government is committed to mainstreaming international migration policy with our national development agenda and is keen to involve all stakeholders, especially the private sector and skill sectors, in sustainable growth and a dynamic migration ecosystem in India,” the official said.