Revised Nitaqat scheme: Indian workers in Saudi Arabia to be hit hard

New Delhi: Indian migrants working in Saudi Arabia are likely to feel adverse impact of Saudi Arabia's revised Nitaqat (or Saudisation) scheme very soon. The latest revision allows only a few number of organisations with high grades to apply for new block visas from September 2017, as per a report published in the Times of India.

The scheme has been designed in such a way so as to create more jobs for the local nationals. The alteration covers private firms with six or more employees.

Around 25 lakh Indian migrants were working in Saudi Arabia in 2016. Nevertheless, the numbers are constantly on a decline.

The sectors most likely to face the heat include construction and hospitality, as per experts.

Nitaqat or Saudisation of the workforce—the replacement of foreign workers with Saudi nationals in the private sector—is the official national policy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

While many Saudis are employed by the government, there are not enough jobs for the growing number of youth. As of 2006 the private sector was largely dominated by expatriate workers from Southeast Asia and the Arab world.

Since 2005, the target Saudisation rate has been set at 75% for the private sector,however in most sectors the actual rates are still much lower, because most Saudis are not interested in working jobs requiring manual labor.