Bahraini firms are seeking answers after being told they would be screened before being allowed to recruit workers from India.

The new screening process has been brought in by the Indian Embassy after our sister publication, the Gulf Daily News revealed a company that lost 16 workers in a labour camp fire was now operating under another name.

It had been blacklisted by the embassy for poor treatment of its workers, who lived in cramped and dangerous conditions - meaning it should not be able to hire in India.

However, this and several other blacklisted firms have reportedly managed to recruit staff from India simply by changing their names.

Bahrain's private sector is now seeking confirmation of what criteria companies should meet before they are allowed to recruit from India.

'Various questions arise in the mind of employers when the embassy comes forward with such a system,' said Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) contractor's committee chairman Samir Nass.

'Are they going to say that those companies who pay the workers anything less than BD150 to BD200 will not be approved?

'Will the embassy demand an apartment or villa for the workers?

'We are concerned and eager to know the criteria that the embassy has set to decide if a company can recruit from India or not.

'There should a proper yardstick to measure the credibility of a company and the criteria should be fair to all parties involved.'

Nass, who is also vice-chairman of the Nass Corporation, said the embassy must ensure that any such system is fair and balanced.

'It also needs to have a proper assessment technique,' he said.

'I suggest that even before the embassy actually rejects companies' applications for Indian employees, they call a meeting with those concerned parties.

'All of them should sit down and discuss what is fair to all parties.'

However, he added that he respected any such decision by the embassy.

'I respect any rule put forward by the Indian government and will not disregard it,' he said.

'It's true that some companies do exploit their workers, but the case is also true vice-versa.

'Most of the companies treat their employees well and, likewise, most of the employees are loyal.'

Indian Ambassador Balkrishna Shetty has previously said Bahrain's Foreign Ministry had been notified of the new screening process.

However, Bahrain Recruiter's Society chairman Fareed Al Mahmeed thinks employers should have been consulted.

'I don't think that this new system will help much,' he told the GDN.

'Bahrain's largest and most reliable work force is from India.

'I believe that they should have first discussed this with major companies, contractors, recruitment agencies and government officials (from the Labour Ministry and Labour Market Regulatory Authority).

'What the embassy says about blacklisted companies operating under another identity is true, but there's little we can do about it.' - TradeArabia News Service