Kuwait City Feb 27 IANS It is a model that other Indian embassies in the Gulf region could emulate while dealing with problems of Indian workers particularly women in distressThe Indian embassy in Kuwait which serves an estimated 640000 expatriates in the Gulf state has evolved a system that provides comfort security and dignity to the worker in distressAmbassador Ajai Malhotra said while the Indian community is present in most segments of society in Kuwait the embassys welfare thrust is primarily focused on addressing the concerns of workersSince April 2009 the embassy has been accommodating a number of Indian domestic workers including housemaids houseboys cooks and drivers who face problems on their work frontApart from ensuring their shelter the mission has also been addressing their grievances Malhotra saidThey are given a kit containing new clothes toiletries bunk beds with new bedding and regular meals during their stay They can also watch TV and listen to music Malhotra told IANSIndian External Affairs Minister SM Krishna was on a threeday visit to Kuwait to attend the countrys 50th anniversary of independence which was marked with festivities and a massive military parade Saturday According to Malhotra workers who are repatriated are given the air ticket from Kuwait to the airport nearest to their home in India Rs3000 for incidental expenses a suitcase and new set of clothesThe idea is that they must return to India with a higher sense of dignity he pointed outThe ambassador said it was mostly women who came seeking shelter at the embassy with some problem or the other and they stay there for an average of four to five weeksAt present there are 50 women and two men in the embassys shelter It accommodated 585 domestic workers in 2010The embassy has worked out a system to shelter the workers in distress The funds for the shelter come from a fixed upfront payment made by sponsors who want to avail the services of Indian workers The money goes to an outsourced company which is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the facilityAccording to Malhotra the ministry of overseas Indian affairs is keen to replicate the Kuwait embassy model to help Indian workers in distress in other Gulf countriesMalhotra who has been the Indian envoy in Kuwait since March 2009 said there had been instances of distresses involving Indians which had moved him to tearsThe embassy staff also visits jails regularly to extend consular support and other assistance to Indians serving sentences thereA lawyer from the embassys panel accompanies our officials to provide free legal service and support to them he saidThere are 252 Indians presently serving sentences in Kuwaiti jailsMalhotra also said that the the embassy plans to screen sponsors who want to employ Indian workforce so as to minimise the scope of problems in the futureThe Indian embassy in Kuwait has a roundtheclock toll free helpline for domestic workers that was inaugurated in August 2009 It is a multiple line call centre and provides the embassy with a print out of incoming call details so that they could be traced back to sourcesThe call centre is staffed by people who can converse in Hindi Malayalam Tamil Telugu Arabic and EnglishThe embassy helpline number is frontpaged on all job contracts so that new domestic workers know that someone is constantly available to help them the envoy saidAccording to the embassy data Kuwait has about 75000 housemaids about 150000 cooks drivers and houseboys nearly 230000 project workers from IndiaThere are also others working in professions such as medicine engineering and nursing Indians constitute the largest expatriate community in Kuwait Indo-Asian News Service