Majority of the chauffeurs in Saudi Arabia are from India

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s historic decree on Wednesday that permits women to drive is a huge social reform in conservative Saudi Arabia, but it threatens to snuff out the livelihoods of tens of thousands of Pravasi ‘house drivers,’ particularly those from Kerala.

“When women are at the wheel, it means the majority of Saudi households will no longer need chauffeurs to drive women to shops, workplaces, colleges and schools,” points out Attakkoya Pallikkandy, chairman of the Pravasi Coordination Committee. “Of course, the right to drive is a great achievement for Saudi women, but from the Pravasi perspective it is a big blow.”

At a time when hundreds of Indian workers are returning home every week in the wake of the Saudi Arabia government’s aggressive nationalisation (called Nitaqat) of the labour force, the new reform will accelerate the job loss of drivers, Mr. Pallikkandy says.

Indians make up the largest expatriate community in Saudi Arabia and, among Indians, Keralites are the largest group.

“Generally, Saudi households prefer to employ Keralites as house drivers as they are considered trustworthy and employable,” he noted.

Until Wednesday, Saudi Arabia was the only country in the world that did not allow women to drive.The Saudi economy, hit badly by the global decline of oil price, is in churning.

Poor public transport

There are between five lakh and 14 lakh chauffeurs and taxi drivers in Saudi Arabia. The huge majority of them are from India.

“Public transportation is poor in the wealthy kingdom,” points out Hassan Koya, who was for a long time the news editor of the Jeddah-based Malayalam News daily. “Since women are not allowed to drive, they have to depend on chauffeurs and taxi drivers. Better-off Saudi households employ permanent house drivers who take homemakers to shopping malls, girl students to universities and schools and working women to their offices.” He noted that working women spend a sizeable chunk of their salaries on chauffeurs.

Aboobacker Thayyil of Karuvarakundu in Malappuram district, who recently returned after three decades of working in Jeddah, said the ‘house driver visa’ was one of the easiest and cheapest for the uneducated Gulf job aspirant, mainly from north Kerala region. Though the salary was low and job change was tough, the main attraction of ‘house driver’ was the free board and lodging, plus, the generous tips from the employer’s household.” Another fallout of the reform, Pravasis point out, is that more and more educated Saudi women will join the white-collar work force, replacing expatriate employees, executives and professionals.

There is a large army of highly educated women in Saudi Arabia, where women are better educated than men. Self-driven cars would make their job entry easier.

And, as the empowered Saudi women drive into the workplace, a section of the expatriate workers will be driven out.