Gurugram: The Haryana government’s move to send 10,000 construction workers to Israel has triggered a political row in the state, with Leader of the Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda criticising the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government for planning to send them to a “war-affected” country from where other nations have evacuated their citizens.
The state government has dismissed the criticism, saying that it’s endeavouring to help young people find employment both at home and internationally, and that its initiative is intended to help workers travel safely to take up jobs abroad.
The move follows an agreement between India and Israel in May after the visit of Israeli foreign minister Eli Cohen to New Delhi. The two countries had agreed that 42,000 Indian workers — 34,000 construction workers and 8,000 nurses — would be permitted to go to Israel for work.
On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also had a telephone conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi where the two leaders discussed advancing the arrival of Indian workers, according to the Israel Prime Minister’s Office. However, India’s external affairs ministry has also said that the government has not held any discussions with Israel on Indian workers replacing Palestinian labourers.
Israel is facing a massive shortage of construction workers due to the ongoing conflict with Hamas — the Palestinian militant group in control of the Gaza Strip since 2007. On 7 October, Hamas launched a massive rocket barrage and ground attack on Israel, which responded with an ongoing offensive that has resulted in the deaths of over 20,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry.
Amid the war, Israel has reportedly cancelled the work permits of thousands of Palestinians — and the Manohar Lal Khattar government in Haryana is seeking to use this as an opportunity to send construction workers from the state to Israel.
The Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam (HKRN), a corporation set up by the state government to supply contractual manpower to government entities, has advertised 10,000 posts in Israel for workers — 3,000 shuttering carpenters, another 3,000 workers for iron bending, 2,000 for setting up ceramic tiles, and 2,000 for plastering.
The workers who have skills as framework/shuttering carpenters, or in iron bending, setting up ceramic tiles or plastering, will be paid a monthly salary of over Rs 1.55 lakh and will have a contract period not exceeding 63 months, according to the advertisement.
The posts were advertised on 15 December and the last date for application was 20 December.
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Hooda vs govt
Addressing a press conference Wednesday, former Haryana chief minister Hooda criticised the move, questioning the wisdom of sending workers to a war-affected area.
“Why does the BJP-JJP government want to send Haryana youths to the war-affected area — Israel? This is the same Israel where there is a war going on with Hamas. Just a few days ago, many countries had evacuated their citizens from there, safely,” he said.
He also referred to the government’s invitation for applications for jobs as bouncers in Dubai and said the government had made a policy to send unemployed people to Gulf countries.
“Thousands of cases of exploitation and atrocities against workers have come to light in these Gulf countries. In these countries, workers do not have any rights and they continue to be subjected to inhuman atrocities,” said Hooda.
He accused the current government of forcing Haryana residents to migrate and recruiting non-Haryana residents to higher positions.
“The government has recently recruited seven block development and panchayat officers (BDPOs), of whom four are from outside the state. This shows the anti-Haryana mentality of this government. Does this government not consider the people of Haryana worthy of appointment to higher posts?” Hooda said.
“Why are local youths being played with in almost every recruitment? Many big posts are being filled by people from other states. Why?” he asked.
Meanwhile, dismissing his allegations, Praveen Attrey, media secretary to the Haryana government told ThePrint Monday, that besides providing employment opportunities to the youths in the state, Chief Minister Khattar had been endeavouring to get them jobs abroad as well.
He said that for this purpose, the CM has set up the foreign cooperation department in the government and has a full-time adviser for this purpose.
“The objective of the Haryana government led by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar is to provide our youths all the opportunities for employment at the state, national and international level,” said Attrey.
‘Working through multiple channels to provide jobs’
According to Pawan Kumar Choudhary, adviser to the Haryana CM for the foreign cooperation department, the state government has been working through multiple channels to help young people get jobs abroad according to their eligibility.
Speaking to ThePrint Tuesday, he said that the state government gets details of vacancies abroad from the National Skill Development Council (NSDC), and the vacancies for bouncers, staff nurses, and construction workers have also been provided by the NSDC.
Choudhary said that the vacancies of construction workers for Israel announced by the HKRN have exclusively been allocated to Haryana by the NSDC.
“Our chief minister believes that even without the state government’s efforts, youths do apply for jobs abroad and even get them. But in the process, many of them fall prey to unscrupulous elements who offer to send them abroad through the donkey route (illegal means without proper visa and travel documents),” he said.
Choudhary emphasised that many people are cheated of their money and some lose their lives. “It is with this aspect in mind that the CM decided to start this initiative for facilitating youths to get jobs and travel to the country of their employment safely through a government-smoothed process.”
However, recruitment activist Shweta Dhull was not convinced. According to her, the move only shows that the Haryana government has admitted that “it is not able to create jobs for its youths within the state”.
She said that the website of the HKRN claims that it has been set up to provide contractual manpower to all government entities in Haryana, and it will act as the authorised agency for providing contractual manpower in Haryana. “Now, it is surprising that the HKRN is advertising vacancies for Israel, the UK, and Dubai.”
“In Haryana, we witnessed a 37.4 percent unemployment rate in January, according to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy’s (CMIE) data. At that time Haryana contradicted the data, but the manner they are now sending their workforce to a war-torn country like Israel, the government must have realised that it can’t provide jobs to its youths in the state,” Dhull told ThePrint Monday.
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Eligibility and benefits for construction workers
According to the advertisement, candidates for jobs as construction workers in Israel should be between 25 and 45 years of age, should have cleared Class 10 and have three years of experience in the relevant skill.
They will be paid 6,100 shekels (NIS) — roughly Rs 1,37,260 — per month as salary, and NIS 734 (Rs 16,380) as a special deposit fund.
The special deposit fund accrued for each worker in the bank deposit will be paid to the employee together with accrued interest after the deduction of taxes and bank fees, when they leave Israel permanently after completion of their legal visa period.
The advertisement says that the working days for the construction workers will be 26 days and 236 hours in a month — meaning they will have to work for nearly nine hours a day.
The accommodation is to be provided by the employer but for that, a sum of NIS 278.94 to 449.82 would be deducted from the salary, depending on the location and range.
Besides this, NIS 134.46 will be deducted from the salary of the workers for medical insurance. Overtime will be allowed according to the company norms, while leave benefits will be allowed according to the Israeli labour laws.
The advertisement says that the first visa and work permit will be valid until the end of the calendar year and may be extended for additional periods up to one year at a time to a maximum of 63 months.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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