Kuwait fire: Shashi Tharoor demands bill to ensure decent work conditions for Indian migrant workers

In the wake of the Kuwait fire tragedy, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday called on the government to draft a bill in consultation with all the stakeholders to ensure decent conditions of work and security for the Indian migrant workers.

A massive fire engulfed a multi-storey building in Kuwait housing foreign workers, mostly Indians, early on Wednesday, killing at least 49 people and injuring more than 50 others, according to officials.

Most deaths were due to smoke inhalation while the residents were sleeping. A significant number of occupants were evacuated, they added.

Tharoor said the tragedy is a reminder of the terrible privations Indian migrant workers undergo in their efforts to support their families at home.

"More than five years ago when I chaired the parliamentary standing committee on External Affairs, I requested the Government to prepare an updated Emigration Bill to ensure decent conditions of work and security for our migrant workers. I am shocked that five years later there is still no Bill," the former minister of state for external affairs said in a post on X.

He urged the government to address this issue at the earliest and draft a "serious bill" in consultation with all stakeholders.

"When Indian workers are sent abroad, they must have contractual assurances of decent conditions of life, work, pay & residence before they leave our shores," Tharoor said.

Earlier, in another post, he said, "Horrified and deeply saddened by the news of a fire in a building housing Indian migrant workers in southern Kuwait earlier today, killing 40 Indians and injuring dozens more."

"My profound condolences to the families of the victims. Om Shanti," Tharoor said.