India to amend Emigration Act to meet demands of global workplace: S Jaishankar

India is looking to amend the Emigration Act of 1983 as part of efforts to meet the demands of the global workplace and to promote legal mobility while discouraging non-legal migration, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday.

The government has launched a range of skill training, vocational education and professional preparation efforts to make Indian workers more productive in the contemporary era, Jaishankar said at an event to mark the launch of the Global Access to Talent from India (GATI) Foundation.

Noting that India has not developed or leveraged its human resources to the extent it could have in the past, Jaishankar said, “Conceptually, it is vital that we promote legal mobility and strongly discourage, I would argue even prohibit, non-legal ones.”

The challenge of the black economy has to be faced in the context of talent flow, societal good and national security. The Emigration Act of 1983 was “designed to address the demands of a particular geography in a certain era” but the “times have changed and our vistas have expanded”, he said.

“We need to be more promotional and aware of new possibilities, even while taking care of the vulnerable. This issue is currently being examined by the government,” Jaishankar added.

At the same time, the government has taken a range of steps to give Indian citizens the “confidence to fully explore the global workplace”, such as the ability to carry out evacuation operations, and measures to back up nationals in difficult situations such as the replacement passports, payment of wages or preventing mistreatment by foreign employers, or ensuring the rights of Indians abroad.

“From establishing an effective grievance portal to creating a responsive fund for the needs of the vulnerable, we have sought to institutionalised...taking care of Indians abroad,” he said.

In recent years, India has signed a migration and mobility agreements with 22 countries, from Germany to Malaysia, to open up new avenues for both professionals and blue collar workers. These agreements also address the issue of illegal migration.

Jaishankar said there are currently about 34 million Indians and people of Indian origin living and working abroad, and about half of them are Indian citizens. About a third are located in West Asia and the rest are spread across mostly developed economies.

These workers are from diverse fields, ranging from techies and entrepreneurs to blue collar workers and service providers. Global professions such as seafaring, airlines and the hospitality sector have already tapped into India’s human resources pool in a significant level and economies like Australia and Germany have seen a significant increase of working Indians in the past few years, he said.

Japan has advocated an action plan to take forward the Specialised Skill Workers Agreement signed with India, while Malaysia has opened up more sectors to Indian workers, especially construction.

Jaishankar said India’s talents and skills will be “very much part of our branding” and a more interdependent and technology-driven world will put a greater premium on it. He also said that foreign investment, collaboration and trade will play a key role in accelerating manufacturing, development of technology, optimisation of agriculture and food processing, and digital and AI issues.

However, India should also pay greater attention to opportunities beyond its borders because of the emergence of a global workplace. This has been spurred by sharp demographic changes, demands of new technologies, compatibilities in culture and work ethos, and the premium put on trust and resilience in many fields, he said.