Blacklisted Companies

Ministry
for Overseas Indian Affairs has blacklisted 14 Qatari companies at the
recommendation of the country's embassy for not treating Indian workers
properly. Another 40 local firms have been put on the mission's
watch-list following complaints from Indian workers about not
fulfilling their contractual obligations.

"This is only a watch-list and as and when a company is found to
have improved its track record, its name would be removed from it,"
George Joseph, the Indian ambassador to Qatar, was quoted as saying in
media.

Half-a-dozen Indians, including two maids, are languishing at the
detention center for over 6 months. The Qatari authorities are said to
be tracking their sponsors to retrieve their passports.

The mission, while putting the total number of Indians held at the
deportation center by March 1 this year at 87, said the figure was down
from a high of 146 in January. There are 25 maids among the 87 Indian
detainees, a senior mission official said.

The Qatari authorities have eased visa restrictions for Indians and
this literally has opened a floodgate. A lot of Indians are coming here
to take up professional, semi-skilled and unskilled jobs, Joseph said.

Source: Times of India