The community of Indians in Qatar includes Indian expatriates in Qatar, as well as people born in Qatar of Indian origin. The Indian population in the country currently stands at around 545,000.[1]
Overview
With the economic boom being witnessed in Gulf nations for the next ten years, the growing demand in the construction sector will continue and many Indian workers will be recruited to serve in the labour market and as engineers.[2] A vast majority of the Indians in Qatar work as contract labourers in the booming construction industry.[3] Apart from those working in the construction sector, Indians are also employed in all kinds of jobs such as welders, fabricators, fitters, engineers and doctors as many organizations in the country require people with various skill levels.
More and more Indian students in Qatar, especially Doha, are opting for distance education programmes after passing their higher secondary examinations. After clearing their Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Class 12 exams, the students are making a beeline for the various distance education programmes offered by a number of Indian universities in Qatar.[4]
Controversy
According to media reports and Indian government figures published on February 17th 2014 more than 1000 Indians working in Qatar have died in the past two years, obtained by news wire AFP under right of information laws
According to the Indian embassy in Qatar, 237 workers died in 2012 and 218 in 2013 up to December 5, at a rate of 20 fatalities each month. The figures follow similar data revealed to AFP by the Nepalese embassy in Doha last month, showing 191 deaths recorded in 2013, with many of them from "unnatural" heart failure, compared with 169 the year before. The Indian embassy did not give details about the circumstances of the deaths, but the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) said the data showed an "exceptionally high mortality rate". [5]
