The governments policy of allowing one foreign professional for every 100 Indian labourers has raised the eyebrows of several nations with investments in Indian business. On Monday,Japanese embassy officials were scheduled to meet Japanese business executives in India,during which the Ministry of Labour and Employments (MoL&E) memorandum was set to be discussed. Embassy officials also plan to go over the strict policy with the head of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in India in the coming days. Although the Japanese embassy has yet to hear from any disgruntled employees fearing for their visa and employment status,it is gathering information in the event that the Indian side tighten their policy, said Satoshi Isono,first secretary,economic division,of the Japanese Embassy in Delhi. So far,the only action is to Chinese people,but Im not quite sure about the future. The number of Japanese who would be affected,if the government enforced the policy worldwide,is unclear. The Japanese are not the only ones who might be concerned with the newly reported policy. In recent months,the British high commission had expressed worry over visa dilemmas,as very few British nationals fell into the category of unskilled labourers in India. But with the MoL&E policy placing a limit on skilled workers and professionals,the high commission will re-evaluate its position. We havent had clarity on that policy,yet, said British Embassys Dan Chugg. How we think it will impact British people working in India remains unclear. Some 25,000 unskilled and semi-skilled Chinese labourers were earlier asked to meet an October 31 departure deadline,while more than 5,000 skilled professionals are now trying to resolve their visa issues and ensure that their companies may legally employ them. In the meantime,projects are facing delays,according to the Ministry of Power. Due to non-availability of commissioning engineers from Chinese companies,the projects are likely to slip. Ministry of Power has requested the Ministry of Home Affairs to expedite issuing of employment visas to the Chinese engineers so that plants can be completed on time, read a statement issued by the power ministry today.
