We live in the age of airplane and traveling from one country to another is becoming more of a pleasure trip. Who wants to spend 2-3 weeks in a ship when they cover the same distance within a few hours? Well, you are right but then not every one can afford flying- at least not in the third world countries. Then you may wonder if people cannot afford a plane ticket then they should go abroad! Because of earning their livelihood. Thousands of people from India now work in the Middle East countries. Most of them get small amount of money and for them flying is often too much expensive. So, an Indian Member of Parliament (MP), has called for the resumption of shipping service between India and Bahrain. I am quoting from a report published in India eNews:
"Pannyan Ravindran of the Communist Party of India (CPI) has said that he will submit a petition signed by 20 MPs from Kerala to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking resumption of the services, according to a report in the Gulf Daily News newspaper.
Ravindran, according to the report, has said that the shipping services were necessary as the present airfares between India and Bahrain are almost the same as those on the India-Europe sector, which the low-paid workers cannot afford.
Though a passenger ferry service was launched between the Gulf and India in 2001 by a Bahraini firm, it had to be subsequently cancelled as the vessel could not get a sea-worthiness certificate from India’s Mercantile and Marine Department."
This proposal sounds good to me. Many workers would not mind to stay in the ship for 2 weeks if they can save some money. The opponents of the plan feel that it is not economically feasible. They also argue that if a worker has one month leave and then he spends 2 weeks in a ship- then there is no benefit. On the other hand, I think that many workers in the Bahrain will welcome it. Right now, there are more than 130,000 Indians working in Bahrain.
I have just one concern. If Indian government gives the permission to any shipping company to operate its service then the Indian government must look into the matter security very strictly. Secondly, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka should join hands to introduce this kind of shipping service as it would benefit the workers of all these countries.
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