Tax hike on dependents of immigrants hits NRIs
Saudi Returned expats of coastal region struggling to find jobs!
Mangaluru, July 17: Ever since Saudi Arabia has imposed huge tax on the dependents of immigrants, expats from coastal Karnataka are bearing the brunt of this new expatriate dependent fee that Saudi Arabia introduced in July, 2017.
The expatriate dependent fee has forced NRIs to send their families back home or in some cases they too have returned to their motherland. The returned NRIs are now struggling to find a viable job.
Muhammed Nawaz (name changed) has been working as a mechanical supervisor in Saudi Arabia since 20 years. He was living in a rented house in the Kingdom and had called his wife and children to stay with him. Few months ago he sent back his family back home. In the name of expatriate dependent fee which is linked to Iqama (residence license), for a family of wife and four children Muhammed Nawaz had to pay 500 Saudi riyals per month (approximately Rs. 9,146).
To overcome from country’s slumping revenue due to decline in global oil prices Saudi Arabia introduced expatriate dependent tax in 2017 and imposed tax on the dependents (wife, children and others) of Immigrants working in Saudi.
Sources reveal that since 2017 Saudi Arabia is imposing 100 Saudi riyals per person/month (Rs. 1800). The taxation system will continue till 2020 and will get doubled every year. That means a person has to pay 200 Saudi riyals per person/month in 2018, 300 riyals in 2019 and whopping 400 Saudi riyals in 2020.
Many families from Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Bhatkal have found their livelihood in Gulf countries. But hiked fee has shattered the lives of these families. The Saudi government is not providing any facilities in return of this additional tax. There is no meaning in paying 1200 riyals to the government. Hence, I was forced to send my family back home, said Muhammed Nawaz.
According to one estimate, out of thousands of Kannadiga families living in Gulf countries at least 500 families have returned from Saudi Arabia alone. As these families are poor and fall under low income group, they are now struggling to rebuild their lives from the beginning. They are looking forward for support from Karnataka government like Kerala government that has lent a helping hand to Gulf returned families.
Government help is needed
I am working as a manager in a Hyper market in Saudi since 23 years. My wife and two children live with me. The government has introduced Iqama fee last year. This year this fee has got doubled. In addition, to ensure top most posts for locals Saudi is sending back expatriates. In the wake of this drive I decided to submit my resignation and returned to my mother land with family.
Like me hundreds of families have returned from Saudi. Some have sent their families back home. Now I am looking for a job here.
- Aboobaquer Khader Bail Muhammed, Surathkal, Kaana.
No relief for Government jobs!
After imposing hefty iqama fee on expatriates, Saudi has now targeting the expatriates serving In government departments.
Abdul Aziz Sheikh Muhammed, a resident of Mangaladevi in Mangaluru was working in Saudi Electricity Company since 25 years. He returned to his home land after he was removed from his job.
Basically, I am a civil engineer. Since last year Saudi is levying tax on dependents of expatriates. This year they are kicking out expatriates from jobs to ensure job to locals. They are removing government officials too. I and my family returned to home land two and half month ago. Last year I had paid 100 Saudi riyals per head as fee. But this year since I lost my job, it was impossible for me to pay the hiked fee and hence I returned home. Now I am searching for a job here, Sheikh Muhammed explained to Vartha Bharati.
12 persons working in various private companies have sent back their families (Four persons returned to India along with their family). As I suddenly lost my job, I faced problem in providing education to my children. Especially, I struggled a lot to admit my daughter to 10th std in CBSE school here, Sheikh Muhammed said.
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Single higher education regulator bill tabled in LS; Oppn flags ‘centralisation,' JPC likely
New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, which seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation, and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.
Meanwhile, the move drew strong opposition, with members warning that it could weaken institutional autonomy and result in excessive centralisation of higher education in India.
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, earlier known as the Higher Education Council of India (HECI) Bill, has been introduced in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The proposed legislation seeks to merge three existing regulatory bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), into a single unified body called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education institutions, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE governs teacher education in India.
Under the proposed framework, the new commission will function through three separate councils responsible for regulation, accreditation, and the maintenance of academic standards across universities and higher education institutions in the country.
According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to the multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.
The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.
At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Government to refer bill to JPC; Oppn slams it
The government has expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee after several members of the Lok Sabha expressed strong opposition to the Bill, stating that they were not given time to study its provisions.
Responding to the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government intends to refer the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed examination.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari warned that the Bill could result in “excessive centralisation” of higher education. He argued that the proposed law violates the constitutional division of legislative powers between the Union and the states.
According to him, the Bill goes beyond setting academic standards and intrudes into areas such as administration, affiliation, and the establishment and closure of university campuses. These matters, he said, fall under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List and Entry 32 of the State List, which cover the incorporation and regulation of state universities.
Tewari further stated that the Bill suffers from “excessive delegation of legislative power” to the proposed commission. He pointed out that crucial aspects such as accreditation frameworks, degree-granting powers, penalties, institutional autonomy, and even the supersession of institutions are left to be decided through rules, regulations, and executive directions. He argued that this amounts to a violation of established constitutional principles governing delegated legislation.
Under the Bill, the regulatory council will have the power to impose heavy penalties on higher education institutions for violating provisions of the Act or related rules. Penalties range from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ₹2 crore.
Concerns were also raised by members from southern states over the Hindi nomenclature of the Bill. N.K. Premachandran, an MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party representing Kollam in Kerala, said even the name of the Bill was difficult to pronounce.
He pointed out that under Article 348 of the Constitution, the text of any Bill introduced in Parliament must be in English unless Parliament decides otherwise.
DMK MP T.M. Selvaganapathy also criticised the government for naming laws and schemes only in Hindi. He said the Constitution clearly mandates that the nomenclature of a Bill should be in English so that citizens across the country can understand its intent.
Congress MP S. Jothimani from Tamil Nadu’s Karur constituency described the Bill as another attempt to impose Hindi and termed it “an attack on federalism.”
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