The monthly salary of an Indian housemaid will range between SR1,000 and SR1,200 ($319) under an agreement between Saudi and Indian labor delegations, local newspapers reported on Tuesday.
The two sides also agreed that the age of a housemaid from India should not be less than 30. The Labor Ministry announced over the past two days that the recruitment of Indian house helpers to work in Saudi Arabia had already started.
Saad Al-Baddah, chairman of the National Recruitment Committee (NRC) of the Saudi Council of Chambers, said the agreement was worked out by members of his committee and representatives of the Indian Embassy in Riyadh.
“We held a series of meetings to work out the modalities of recruiting housemaids from India,” he said.
Al-Baddah said employer and employee would also sign a working contract as part of the agreement signed by the Saudi and Indian sides.
Under the agreement between the two sides, the recruitment of Indian house helpers will be made through licensed recruitment companies and the salary of the housemaid will be paid through the embassy.
Deputy Labor Minister Mofarej Al-Haqbani said the agreement contained a number of conditions that should be fulfilled by the Indian domestic helpers before they are appointed. According to him, these included a certificate of good conduct, clean criminal or legal records, successful passing of medical tests and respect for Saudi customs and traditions.
He said the recruitment of domestic helpers from India would inject new life into the housemaids market in light of recent problems that stopped the recruitment of labor from Indonesia and the Philippines.
Meanwhile, the Indian Ministry of Social Affairs had said an average of 450 Indian women migrate to the GCC countries every week. It revealed that a total of 29,637 work visas were issued last year.
The ministry said though there are about 1,691 Indian prisoners in Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom is still the favorite location for Indian manpower.
