First batch workers from India under G2G agreement arrives in Israel The first batch of more than 60 workers from India have arrived in Israel under a government-to-government agreement to bolster the country's construction industry facing a huge shortage of trained hands. The G2G mechanism has been worked out to keep away middlemen and to make the process of hiring fair through the screening tests conducted by Israeli examiners, who visited India a few times and coordinated the process with the Indian government agencies. The first batch of Indian construction workers arrived in the country on Tuesday evening. Today we had a farewell event from the first batch of 60+ Indian construction workers going to Israel under the G2G agreement. "Today we had a farewell event from the first batch of 60+ Indian construction workers going to Israel under the G2G agreement. This is an outcome of hard work of many, including @NSDCINDIA. I'm sure that the workers become 'ambassadors' of the great P2P relations between India and Israel," Israel's ambassador to India Naor Gilon posted on X on Tuesday. Earlier, a little over 900 construction workers had arrived from India during the last few months through the B2B route, involving manpower agencies in both countries. Construction industry sources expressed dismay at the slow pace saying that after three months during which over 20,000 foreign workers from India and Sri Lanka were approved for jobs in the construction sector through screening tests conducted by the Israeli Contractors Association (ICA), only about a 1,000 workers had arrived so far. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a telephonic conversation with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in December last year had discussed advancing the arrival of Indian workers to Israel. Israel's Minister of Economy Nir Barkat during his trip to India in April last year, had spoken to officials and his counterpart in New Delhi about hiring Indians in various sectors, including in the construction sector, much before the current escalation. The discussions had revolved around bringing in almost 160,000 people. About 18,000 Indians are working in Israel, mostly as caregivers. Most of them decided to stay back in Israel and did not leave the country during the war because "they felt quite secure" and "also because the salaries are quite attractive". Israel and India also inked an agreement in May last year during then Foreign Minister Eli Cohen's visit to New Delhi that will allow 42,000 Indian workers to work in the Jewish state in the fields of construction and nursing, a move that would address the rising cost of living and assist thousands of families waiting for nursing care. https://today-news.co.in/2024/04/06/first-batch-workers-from-india-under-g2g-agreement-arrives-in-israel/