Now Saudi women may drive thousands of NRI drivers out of the kingdom

coastaldigest.com news network
September 30, 2017

King Salman’s recent decree that grants driving licenses to women in Saudi Arabia may snuff out the livelihoods of tens of thousands of NRI ‘house drivers,’ including those from Karnataka and Kerala. The royal order will officially come into force from Shawwal 10, 1439, corresponding to June 24, 2018.

Even though the international media hailed the decree as a great “social reform”, for the Saudi government, this is mere a continuation of Saudization. When women are at the wheel, it means the majority of Saudi households will no longer need chauffeurs to drive women to shops, workplaces, colleges and schools.

So far women in Saudi had to depend on chauffeurs and taxi drivers. Better-off Saudi households employ permanent house drivers who take homemakers to shopping malls, girl students to universities and schools and working women to their offices. Working women spend a sizeable chunk of their salaries on chauffeurs.

‘House driver visa’ hitherto was one of the easiest and cheapest for the uneducated Gulf job aspirants in India. Though the salary was not very attractive, the main attraction of ‘house driver’ was the free board and lodging, plus, the generous tips from the employer’s household.

There are nearly 14 lakh chauffeurs and taxi drivers in Saudi Arabia. The huge majority of them are from India. At a time when hundreds of Indian workers are returning home every week in the wake of the Saudi government’s nationalisation of the labour force, the new reform will accelerate the job loss of drivers.

Another fallout of the reform is that more and more educated Saudi women will join the white-collar work force, replacing expatriate employees, executives and professionals. There is a large army of highly educated women in Saudi Arabia, where women are better educated than men. Self-driven cars would make their job entry easier. And, as the Saudi women drive into the workplace, a section of the expatriate workers will be driven out.

Comments

Mohan
 - 
Saturday, 30 Sep 2017

Read properly. It means that women get driving license and they can drive alone. Only thats it. It not about they are taking that job instead of current drivers

Yogesh
 - 
Saturday, 30 Sep 2017

LOL... Their husbands wont allow to wear modern dress, Still you people believe that because of them, THOUSANDS OF NRI DRIVERS will be jobless...! Govt allowed but will see how many are ready for this

Unknown
 - 
Saturday, 30 Sep 2017

Total rubbish. NRI's are experts. These ladies cant replace them. 

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coastaldigest.com news network
May 25,2020

Ernakulam, May 25: Miscreants belonging to self-proclaimed Hindutva outfits have demolished a church set erected for the shoot of a Malayalam film at Kalady in Kerala’s Ernakulam district.

The set was erected to shoot the climax scene of the super hero film Minnal Murali, directed by Basil Joseph and starring Tovino Thomas and newcomer actor Femina.

The incident took place on Sunday. Members of the Antharashtra Hindu Parishad claimed that with the help of their sister outfit Antarashtra Bajrang Dal, they demolished the church set, erected on an island on the Periyar river in Kalady.

Hari Palode, the General Secretary of AHP, an organisation founded by Praveen Togadia, boasted on Facebook that they were not used to pleading to anyone, and decided to demolish the church set that was constructed near the Adi Sankaracharya mutt. 

“When they built such a structure in front of the Mahadeva shrine in Kalady, we said no. We had also submitted several complaints. We do not have the habit of pleading. We decided to demolish it. Our self respect must be protected at all cost,” AHP’s General Secretary Hari Palode wrote on his Facebook post along with pictures of members demolishing the set. 

The post also credited members of the Anrarashtra Bajrang Dal and its Ernakulam Division President Malayatoor Ratheesh for participating in the ‘service work’ of razing the church set. 

Mini Biju, member of Kalady Town panchayat confirmed that the film unit had indeed secured permission from the department before going ahead with the construction of the set.

“They had submitted a letter seeking permission to raise a temporary set. This was back in February before construction began. The panchayat committee had approved this request,” Mini said.

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News Network
May 4,2020

Kalaburagi, May 4: Migrant workers stranded in different parts of Karnataka arrived in buses at Central Bus Stand in Kalaburagi on Monday morning and are being sent to their home towns.

The Kalaburagi City Corporation has made the requisite arrangements for labourers and their thermal screening is also being done.

"Food packets and water bottles are being provided to all. Buses carrying migrant workers started arriving from 5 am. We are expecting around 70 buses. This process will continue for the next 3 days," Rahul Pandve, Kalaburagi Commissioner City Corporation, told news agency.

"We have made arrangements for registration. And all arriving at the site are undergoing thermal screening," he said.

Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa had on Sunday allowed labourers to travel to their hometowns in the state on KSRTC buses free of charge for three days starting on Sunday.

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coastaldigest.com news network
July 23,2020

Mangaluru, Jul 23: Dakshina Kannada recorded seven more deaths related to covid-19 even as the district saw a spike of 218 new coronavirus positive cases in past 24 hours. With this the total number of covid related deaths in the district mounted to 99. 

Among the seven fatalities, the first one is a 36-year-old man hailing from Davanagere. He was admitted to a private hospital on July 16, and breathed his last yesterday.He was suffering from sepsis septic shock, acute liver injury, and acute kidney injury, acute chronic pancreatitis, ARDS, and spontaneous bacterial peritonitis. 

The second victim is a 69-year-old man from Bhatkal, who was admitted to a private hospital on July 7, and passed away July 22. He suffered from heart disease, cancer, renal failure and pulmonary thromboembolism. 

The third one is a 52-year-old man from Palakkad, Kerala. He was admitted to a Wenlock hospital on July 19, and passed away on July 22. He suffered from diabetes, ARDS and respiratory issues. 

The fourth one is an 83-year-old man from Mangaluru. He was admitted to a Wenlock hospital on June 13, and passed away on July 22. He suffered from blood pressure, heart disease and pneumonia. 

The fifth one is a 73-year-old man from Mangaluru, who was admitted to a private hospital on July 21, and passed away on July 22. He was suffering from diabetes mellitus, hypertension, old cerebrovascular accident, hyponatraemia and acute on chronic kidney disease. 

The sixth one a 58-year-old woman from Mangaluru. She was admitted to a private hospital on July 11 and passed away on July 22. She was suffering from type 2 diabetes mellitus and hypertension. 

The seventh is a 52-year-old male from Bantwal. He was admitted to private hospital on July 21 and passed away on July 22. He was suffering from heart disease.

As per the district health bulletin, a total of 31,068 samples have been tested so far. 26,854 have turned out negative, and 4,214 are positive till date. Out of these, 2,253 cases are currently active. 1,862 persons have recovered and been discharged. Among the deceased, 12 are from other districts.

As many as 118 patients were discharged on Thursday from Wenlock as well as private hospitals. Of the 218 who tested positive on Thursday, 36 are primary contacts, 110 have ILI symptoms, 16 have SARI symptoms, and contacts of 57 are being traced.

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