Indian
Embassy blacklists 49 Bahrain firms
Manama - A total of 49 companies in
Bahrain have been blacklisted by the Indian Embassy
for allegedly cheating their workers, the Indian Ambassador
was quoted as saying.
Ambassador Balkrishna Shetty said
the list included firms who kept workers in cramped
living quarters or unhygienic conditions, failed to
pay their salaries on time, physically abused them or
had not provided safety measures at worksites.
The action means the embassy will
pass the rogue companies' names to labour authorities
in India so potential recruits can be forewarned before
they travel to Bahrain.
Shetty said the number of firms caught
violating laws had gone up sharply in recent times,
but the embassy was working with Bahraini authorities
to ensure everything was being done to prevent abuse.
'This is normal practice when a company
mistreats or has a consistent record of badly treating
its employees,' Shetty said.
'Naturally we have to take action
against and alert the authorities in India that they
should not accept any employees with such companies.'
Many mistreatment cases are raised
at the embassy's monthly open house meetings with community
members, but Shetty said evidence was collected before
any action is taken. Officials thoroughly investigate
the allegations and will write to the company concerned,
giving them a chance to respond, before the embassy
makes recommendations for change, he said.
If the firm fails to respond or does
not take steps to alter its treatment of workers it
is automatically blacklisted.
'We find that some of these companies
claim that they are being defamed but they are the ones
that have ignored the law,' said Shetty. 'We do it (blacklisting)
in a very systematic manner.
'I do not think anyone can object
to us demanding that workers are treated according to
laws in Bahrain. These firms are harming the good companies
in Bahrain because they do not pay their own workers
fairly and they are able to undercut the good companies.
'The good companies in Bahrain will
benefit from this and the bad ones will be eliminated.”
The ambassador added once a company
has been blacklisted it is possible for a firm to come
off the list, if evidence and a written guarantee was
provided that it had changed its ways. - TradeArabia
News Service
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