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Govt. curbs jobs for Indian skilled workers
View(s):By Chris Kamalendran
The Government is to reduce the number of Indian skilled workers in Sri Lanka and replace them with Sri Lankans, Labour Minister Gamini Lokuge said. He said the new policy decision by the Government would include a reduction of Indian workers in existing projects and limitations on the number coming for future projects both in the public and private sectors.
The minister referred particularly to the Colombo Dockyard where some 800 Indian skilled workers were employed. The other sectors included the steel manufacturing industry where more than 1,500 Indians were employed. He said the Board of Investment (BOI) would be directed to impose restrictions on the number of Indians recruited for projects approved by it.
“‘Our policy is to encourage Sri Lankans to be trained for the jobs now being done by foreigners,” Mr. Lokuge said though denying the new policy was linked to the strained relationship with India, and especially the crisis in Tamil Nadu. Minister Dinesh Gunawardena who is the President of the All Ceylon Harbour and Dock Workers’ Union told the Sunday Times that the move to discourage foreign workers would give more job opportunities for Sri Lankans.
However, the latest Central Bank report on Wednesday claimed that the unemployment rate declined to 4 per cent last year from 4.2 per cent in 2011. Over the past few weeks, there have been several attacks on Sri Lankan visitors including pilgrims and Sri Lankan institutions in Tamil Nadu.
The latest attack was on a group of Sri Lankan Tamil artistes hosted by their counterparts in Chennai. The residence in which they were staying was attacked by a group who warned that no one and nothing from Sri Lanka should be brought to Tamil Nadu. Meanwhile, India is continuing to delay issuing a visa for Sri Lanka’s new Deputy High Commissioner to Chennai. The Sunday Times reported exclusively last week that the visa application has been pending since December last year. The Indian High Commission has declined comment on this issue.
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