KUWAIT: A two-member delegation from Kuwait's Ministry of Health (MoH) will visit the Indian state of Kerala next month to follow up the agreement reached between Kuwait and India in October last year streamlining the recruitment of Indian nurses to Kuwait through three government agencies.

The delegation consisting of Dr Jamal Mansour Al-Harbi, assistant undersecretary for medical services affairs, and Dr Mahmoud Al-Abdulhadi, assistant undersecretary for legal affairs, will visit Kerala in February and hold talks with the minister and other officials on the modalities of effectively implementing the decision to keep private agents out of the recruitment process.

Addressing a meeting at the Indian embassy on Thursday evening, along with a visiting Indian delegation comprising Kerala's Minister of Non-Resident Keralites' Affairs KC Joseph, NORKA Secretary Rani George and NORKA Chief Executive Officer R S Kannan, Indian Ambassador Sunil Jain said the visiting minister and the delegation held a meeting with Dr Al-Harbi on Thursday morning.

Three agencies

The India government decided in March to route the recruitment of nurses through three government agencies - NORKA Roots, the field agency of the Non-Resident Keralites Affairs Department, Overseas Development and Employment Promotion Consultants (ODEPC), under the labor department of the state government, and the Overseas Manpower Corporation run by the Tamil Nadu government.

"Dr Al-Harbi reconfirmed to us that the MoH is fully committed to the agreement," the ambassador said. The MoH plans to recruit 1,000 Indian nurses this year who would be posted in specialized departments at various MoH hospitals such as intensive care units, neurosurgery, orthopedics, etc.

Elaborating on the system of recruitment, the ministry official conveyed to the delegation that the MoH would like to recruit qualified nurses from India with three years of work experience. The candidates must be below the age of 35. The MoH would demand the three official recruiting agencies to review applications from three candidates before selecting one. The agencies must also conduct written tests prior to the interviews.

Addressing the meeting, the minister said he arrived in Kuwait as part of his visit to GCC countries to follow up the decision taken on the recruitment of nurses. He expressed happiness over the fruitful discussions the delegation held with Kuwaiti officials and applauded the ambassador for his initiative to take the process forward. At the same time, he voiced concerns over the delay in implementing the decision which was communicated by the Kerala government to the External Affairs Minister in Delhi.

"On an average, we used to send 300-400 nurses to the GCC countries every month. But after the 30th of April, 2015, only 870 nurses were recruited through NORKA to 18 ECR countries, including Kuwait, where emigration clearance has become mandatory for candidates following the new regulation. Indian embassies in these 18 countries must take the initiative to push employers to register through the official portal e-Migrate," the minister said.

Growing concern

"Today, there is a growing concern in Kerala. Despite having qualified nurses, we are losing in the job market since we are unable to recruit sufficient number of nurses for the ECR countries. We are keen to have the process expedited," he said. The minister said that the government has established an NRI Commission with a view to safeguarding the properties of the non-resident Keralites and ensuring the safety and security of their close relatives back home.

The meeting was attended by Indian Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Subashish Goldar and Second Secretary A K Srivastava. Several Indian community representatives also attended the meeting and participated in the interactive session that followed the minister's speech.

By Sajeev K Peter