The cases that come to Indian Embassy are exceptions and not the norm” said Indian Ambassador Mohan Kumar at the Open House of the Embassy yesterday. A total of 10 cases, including follow ups were brought up during the session.

“We have 3,50,000-strong Indaian community in Bahrain. The indian comunity has been welcome and has been able to make a lot of contributions to the country. However, some times here are issues and these should be considered exceptions. At the same time, it is our duty to deal with these cases and to work for the betterment of every Indian in Bahrain,” Said, Mr. Kumar.

Most of the complaints included withholding of passports and non- payment of salaries to the workers.

Commending First Secretarry A Ajay Kumar, the Indian Community Relief Fund (ICRF), the Coordination Committe of Indian Associations (CCIA) and various other socal workers, for  their efforts, Mr Kumar said, ” We will work to protect the rights of every Indain and I commend the tradition of the Open House where people can approach us without any prior appointment. If we compare Bahrain to other countries, we can se that we are far better off. 

The Bahrain authorities and government have also worked with us and our relations vis-a-vis the authorities are also good.” During the press meet, Indian Embassy officials also revealed thet 3,192 Indians had registered to avail the easy exit scheme.

Of them, 2500 cases had already been cleared. ” We are working on clearing the remaining cases. But as per the Labour Market Regulatory Authority(LMRA) rules, we are not accepting any more registrations,. Hopefully, the remaining cases will be cleared and they can leave before January 31 as allowed by the regulations,” said Mr Ajay Kumar.

Mr Kumar also lauded the proposal by the Labour Mi istry requiring employers to file a report about the workers they employ and their salary payment details. ” Any move increase transparency and accountability was welcome.”