The Haryana government’s move to send 10,000 construction workers to Israel has led to a political row in the state, with Leader of the Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda criticising the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government for planning to send them to a “war-affected” country from where other nations have evacuated their citizens.
However, the state government is of the opinion that the move is aimed at helping young people find employment both at home and internationally, and that its initiative is intended to help workers travel safely to take up jobs abroad. It has accordingly swept aside the criticism.
The move follows an agreement between India and Israel in May after the visit of Israeli foreign minister Eli Cohen to New Delhi. The two countries had agreed that 42,000 Indian workers — 34,000 construction workers and 8,000 nurses — would be permitted to go to Israel for work.
On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also had a telephone conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi where the two leaders discussed advancing the arrival of Indian workers, according to the Israel Prime Minister’s Office.
However, India’s external affairs ministry has also said that the government has not held any discussions with Israel on Indian workers replacing Palestinian labourers.
Israel is facing a massive shortage of construction workers due to the ongoing conflict with Hamas — the Palestinian militant group in control of the Gaza Strip since 2007. On 7 October, Hamas launched a massive rocket barrage and ground attack on Israel, which responded with an ongoing offensive that has resulted in the deaths of over 20,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry. Amid the war, Israel has reportedly cancelled the work permits of thousands of Palestinians — and the Manohar Lal Khattar government in Haryana is seeking to use this as an opportunity to send construction workers from the state to Israel.
The Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam (HKRN), a corporation set up by the state government to supply contractual manpower to government entities, has advertised 10,000 posts in Israel for workers — 3,000 shuttering carpenters, another 3,000 workers for iron bending, 2,000 for setting up ceramic tiles, and 2,000 for plastering.
The workers who have skills as framework/shuttering carpenters, or in iron bending, setting up ceramic tiles or plastering, will be paid a monthly salary of over Rs 1.55 lakh and will have a contract period not exceeding 63 months, according to the advertisement.
The posts were advertised on 15 December and the last date for application was 20 December.
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