Will PM Modi look into apathy towards Indian students in Australia?

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By Ahmed Mohiuddin Siddiqui,
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a string of programmes during his tour to Australia to attend G20 Summit in Brisbane. There will be wide ranging discussions with his Australian counterpart apart from an address to the Australian Parliament. Indian students in Australia have a plethora of problems. Will the Prime Minister Narendra Modi take up their issue with the Australian government?

With scores of students flocking down under for higher studies there is a serious problem building up in Australia. The major reason apart from quality education for students to opt Australia for higher studies is the “legal 20-hr work permit” that is given along with the visa.

The students are mesmerized by the promises made by education consultants in India majority of whom are nothing but soothsayers. They trap students by telling them how easy it is to find a part time job and pay for their expenses on their own. Lured by the positives, students come to Australia expecting their lives to be beds of roses compared to Indian life situation.

However, after a while the bitter truth unfolds and reality sinks in. The students are baffled when they come to know that majority of the jobs are cash on hand ones with a lot of manual labour involved. Many of the students work at petrol stations, convenience stores, in restaurants as wait staff, kitchen hands, dishwashers etc. Some even go to the extent of doing jobs such as housekeeping, bathroom cleaning etc. which they would not have done even in their own homes. The majority of them do this for a meagre pay of only $10 per hour. Due to the dire need of money for survival in this country, students start working over the allowed limit so as to meet their expenses. This in turn results in majority of them not faring well in their examinations in universities.

But what would a student do who hails from a country where a dollar equals 55 times of his native currency. Obviously he would be forced to earn money from what so ever source possible. Is not there a legal way to stop this? The answer is yes. Bu the million dollar question is: Who would represent a student — a temporary resident in a country like Australia where one has to pay $100 for just an appointment with a legal expert. The student is trapped from all corners. He has so many things to manage at a single point of time: his studies, his expenses, his daily works etc. On researching a bit, one finds out that the Australian law allows students to file a complaint against the employer but the other side of the coin is that even the student would be under the scanner for working over the legal limit.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi meeting the President of the European Council, Mr. Herman Van Rompuy, in Brisbane, Australia on 14 Nov 2014.

One might wonder how this nexus of exploitation is taking place in a developed country like Australia. The western powers make empty noises about human rights in other countries but their own backyards stink. For a better understanding, let us take the example of a student working in a well-known convenience store. The legal pay on Tax File number should be $23 per hour but the student is just paid $10 per hour and if he works for two shifts of 10 hours each, then it is shown in the records by the employer that the person has worked for just 10 hours and has been given the legal pay. The same story goes on everywhere — at petrol stations, restaurants etc. All of these places by law are under 24×7 electronic surveillance and every minute is recorded. It is very simple if the Australian government wants to check whether the student is working for the hours specified in his tax file record by the employer or exceeds the work permit limit. Everything is just a few recordings away. Alas, the Australian government seems to turn a blind eye on these issues. The fact here is that Indians are exploited because everyone knows that they have no choice but to work at the pay being given.

The Australian government is fully aware that this is what is happening and Indian students are being exploited. Is there no fear amongst the employers that they could be fined heavily for exploiting workforce in such an inhuman way?

The problem is that the government here seems not to care much about the students from overseas and the government back in India does not take this as a serious issue too be discussed with the Australian government or at an international forum. A serious note must be taken about the pathetic situation of the students living here currently. Many of them do not even tell their parents of what they are doing as a job because it is not worth telling. Many of them become utterly depressed and start smoking and drinking to overcome it.

This is not the situation of students in Australia alone, the same is being faced by almost every student who goes abroad be it to U.S.A or U.K, Canada or New Zealand where part times are illegal but still students do the work. Then there are security concerns too. Racial profiling and attacks in public places are the other issues that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi needs to discuss with the Australian government.

Jyoti Rao, an NRI from Saudi Arabia, speaking to IndiaTomorrow.net expressed her happiness that her daughter Kritika is back from Australia after successful completion of higher studies. She wished the Prime Minister well for the Australia tour and urged him to tackle the issues bothering the Indian students in Australia.
The problems for a student become worse when he tries to acquire a good part time work. He either is not eligible to work or needs an experience or a reference of an employer residing in Australia. How in this world would a graduate in engineering be able to provide a certification or previous experience for jobs such as Sales assistant, previous Mc Donald’s or KFC experience to get a job in them? How can one expect a student who arrived a month ago, to have a referee for him up and ready to go? These are the restrictions that are being placed on the students.

With the Prime Minister of India visit Australia these days, Salman Muther Hussain, an engineering student pursuing his Master’s degree has urged the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring this situation on the international platform and help the Indian students who seemed to be hopeless and devastated as of now. Salman has written on the website of the prime minister http://mygov.in/ where Prime Minister Modi invited for ideas to flow in for his Australia visit. Many parents are concerned about the issues their children face in Australia. Speaking to IndiaTomorrow.net, eminent doctor couple Mohammed Ather and Nasreen Ather said they hope that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi diagnose these students’ issues and prescribe lasting solutions to cure the malaise that has set in, by having fruitful discussions with his Australian counterpart.

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