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NEW DELHI: There was a time, some three decades ago, when Saudi Arabia was on a roll. The coffers of this desert kingdom, as also those of neighbouring Gulf states, were overflowing with petrodollars, affording their kings, sultans, emirs and princes the luxury of lavish public sector spending and assuring the Arabs cradle to grave benefits without having to work for them. All this is about to change for the worse, affecting more than a million Indian expatriate workers in Saudi Arabia. And the state that will be hit the most is Kerala. With the oil boom going bust, the coffers of Saudi Arabia and its neighbours are no longer overflowing. The days of lavish public sector spending are virtually over; fast shrinking welfare funds now have to be spread thinly over rapidly increasing population. "Saudisation", they believe, could prove to be the best anti-dote to Al-Qaedisation of young Saudis as well as address popular demands for social and political reform. It is also aimed at negating the anti-House of Saud propaganda that its policies make foreigners rich even while impoverishing Saudis. The charge is not entirely unfounded: $ 20 billion are repatriated by foreign workers every year, money that would have gone into Saudi pockets had they had these jobs. The "Saudisation" programme is being implemented neither surreptitiously nor without notice. Yet, the Indian government has not yet got down to the task of preparing a strategy to meet the looming crisis. By the time it wakes up to the problem, it will be left with either of two options: wring its hands in despair or cry foul. By putting a well-thought out strategy in place at an early stage, and setting up a consultative mechanism between the state governments that will be affected and the union government, much of the impending shock can be absorbed. But this is one problem that is not going to disappear. It will only get worse with the passage of time. **************** Read the entire article **************** http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/885684.cms --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Goanet - http://www.goanet.org - Goa's premier mailing list is 10 years old