DUBAI : The number of Indians living legally in Kuwait has crossed 8 lakh, the largest expatriate community in the Arab country, the Indian embassy has said.
In addition, there are estimated 25,000 Indian nationals who have overstayed their visas and, therefore, are staying illegally in the country, the embassy in Kuwait said quoting latest statistics by Kuwaiti authorities.
The demand for Indian nurses remains strong and Kuwaiti authorities also indicate that the Indian community in Kuwait may reach the one million mark in the near future.
The Indian community in Kuwait continues to grow at 5-6 per cent per annum.
“Our community remains the most preferred community in Kuwait, the second biggest expatriate community being the Egyptians. The gender ratio of Indians in Kuwait is highly skewed as they are about 6 lakh Indian males as against only 2 lakh Indian females in the country,” said the embassy.
Out of 8 lakh Indians, 2.8 lakh are domestic workers, mostly drivers, gardeners, cleaners, cooks and housemaids, and there are about 1.9 lakh male domestic workers and about 90,000 female domestic workers.
“With the implementation of USD 2,500 bank guarantee since September 2014 for the housemaids, there may be little or no growth in the number of Indian housemaids to Kuwait,” the embassy said.
According to the figures, majority of Indians are employed in private sector as construction workers, technicians, engineers, doctors, chartered accountants and IT experts.
There are about 1 lakh dependants – spouses or children – out of which about 42,000 Indian students are studying in 20 Indian schools in the country.
There is no university-level educational facility for Indian students in Kuwait.
“There was 8 per cent growth last year in Indians engaged in private sector in Kuwait. With Indian companies being awarded civil construction jobs of over USD 4 billion in 2014, we may see a surge in Indian nationals working in private sectors in the next 2-3 years,” said the embassy.
Around 24,000 Indians are working for Kuwaiti government entities as nurses and engineers in National Oil Companies besides a few scientists. (PTI)
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