New Delhi: India and Netherlands will soon sign a Memorandum of Understanding for exchange of nurses between the two countries, Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi said on Monday.
The decision was taken at a meeting between Ravi and Edith Schippe, Minister of Health, Welfare and Sports of Netherlands here.
"Nurses from our country can go to Netherlands and nurses from there can come here. It will give both the sides an opportunity for training and service," Ravi said adding the MoU will be signed soon.
On the issue of forced marriages of Indian girls to men settled overseas, Ravi said the ministry is working in close coordination with varous agencies to deal with the problem.
"We have NGOs which provide legal and financial help to the victims. We are in touch with state governments and embassies to coordinate such cases," he said.
Talking about the recently launched Pension and Life Insurance fund for Indian Overseas workers, he said a pilot project has already been started in Kerala which will soon be expanded to the rest of over the country.
"We have started a pilot project in Kerala which will be expanded to the country. For five years, the workers will have to give some money to the fund," he said adding government will contribute Rs 3,000 and Rs 2,000 for each of the female and male beneficiaries per year to the fund.
Besides providing for life insurance cover, the scheme, to be jointly managed by LIC, UTI and Bank of Baroda, mainly targets workers holding ECR (Emigration Check Required) passport and would help them save for old age and accumulate savings for resettlement.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had announced the scheme during the 10th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Jaipur last January.
PTI
