Exploitation of employee or blackmail of employer? (Khobragade case) - Page 7

That piece brings out some of the issues quite well.

Contrary to author's personal expression the maid's pay isnt seen as low wages by most Indians. As per US rules and overtime it was calculated as around Rs 2.7 lakhs/month which is way higher vthan the topmost govt pay! It is being considered as an absurd amount.

According to the latest 6th pay commission scales the govt official would be drawing a pay of around Rs. 50 to 60 K/m while posted in India. Depending on her seniority she would be entitled to some allowances (around 5 to 6k $/month) during her stint abroad plus furnished accomodation. If we take the allowances and perks of the diplomat into account we should do the same while calculating the maid's wages. There is no reason to think that Ms. Khobragade mistreated her maid in anyway other than the low wages that too as per US stds and not the Indian stds.

Working beyond 40 hrs per week isnt considered as excessive as most top ranking officers are themselves routinely doing that in India.

This looks more a case of difference in perceptions of the two countries.

Devyani case: It's all a maid-in-US conspiracy, India says:

TNN | Dec 19, 2013, 12.21 AM IST

"She is innocent ... It is not the illegality that she (Khobragade) is accused of, but the illegality she refused to oblige," Khurshid said. Going into details, he said that Khobragade "received a phone call from a lawyer who refused to identify himself and offered to settle the matter that would result in grant of permanent citizenship to her (the maid) and a huge compensation. It became clear that this was a conspiracy and some people were trapping her." He added the humiliation meted out to Khobragade had "not happened out of the blue" and there is a "history" behind it.

While not confirmed, it is believed the Richards family has been sent to US on a visa category that is reserved for victims of human trafficking, provided they assist the US authorities in the case. In other words, the ground was carefully created to arrest Khobragade. And the US didn't believe its strategic partner but an absconding maid " something that's being regarded here as an act of hostility.

Meanwhile, MEA refuted US official Nisha Desai-Biswal's contention that the Indian mission was informed of the issue in September. Calling it "dead wrong", MEA said it was India which first informed the US about the disappearance of the maid. India warned the US of the possibility of a visa fraud by Richards. Instead, it was astonished to find the US has actually facilitated it.

The MEA and security establishment have told the US that India would ensure the security of its embassy and diplomats. This came after the US publicly called for the safety of its diplomats. But the measures taken are intended to hurt the US. The loss of airport passes for an embassy that sees massive VIP traffic is certain to prove a major problem. US diplomats in their four consulates will have their IDs stamped by the police that will specify they are not eligible for any diplomatic immunity. This reflects the privileges that Indian diplomats enjoy in the US.

Between June, when Richards disappeared from Khobragade's house on the pretext of shopping, to November, when an arrest warrant was issued for her by a Delhi sessions court, the Indian government made repeated complaints and representations to the US authorities (see timeline). Each time the Indians were given no response or cooperation from the US side. On September 21, the US state department in a letter said there were "allegations" against Khobragade, for which they wanted her to come to the state department to clarify.

The MEA responded with a strongly worded letter detailing the charges against the maid, her disappearance and the developments. The US side clammed up. The Indian government also found it very strange that Richards' husband, Philip, initially filed a missing persons report about his wife but later withdrew it.

Parliament on Wednesday erupted in support of Khobragade with members, cutting across party lines, supporting the government for its retaliatory actions. The government has, however, maintained that the steps taken against the US are "reciprocal", not "retaliatory" in nature.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Devyani-case-Its-all-a-maid-in-US-conspiracy-India-says/articleshow/27607516.cms

WASHINGTON: The United States moved quickly on Wednesday to defuse the tangled diplomatic spat with India by having secretary of state John Kerry telephone India's national security adviser Shivshankar Menon to express regret about the incident in which diplomat Devyani Khobragade was treated harshly by US law enforcement authorities.

...
Meanwhile, the beleaguered Indian foreign service official was transferred on Wednesday to India's UN mission in New York to allow her full diplomatic immunity as both New Delhi and Washington moved to cover legal bases and arrive at a creative solution in a full-blown spat that has become increasingly messy and complicated.

The move is aimed at giving the mid-level official, who was attached to the Indian consulate in New York and enjoyed limited immunity therein, complete protection from prosecution. However, for that to happen, Khobragade will have to be issued new credentials by the United Nations, a process where the US state department has a nominal role.

...

Earlier, Indian anger mounted on Wednesday when it transpired that Washington literally sprang the husband and two children of the housekeeper Sangeeta Richard from New Delhi by giving them expedited visas to travel to the US two days before the state department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security and the justice department acted in concert to swoop down and arrest Devyani Khobragade on visa fraud charges.

Reports from Delhi also spoke of Sangeeta's in-laws working for the American embassy in New Delhi, which would suggest that contacts within the US diplomatic community would have come into play in her battle against the Indian diplomat.

In what some Indian officials view as a tight, narrow, and mean-spirited interpretation of US minimum wage laws and consular immunity, the diplomat was subjected to indignities such as cavity searches that are sanctioned by US courts and meant primarily for drug smugglers and common criminals, after being slapped with charges of visa fraud and misrepresentation.

What role the US embassy in Delhi played in protecting a family member of its Indian staff, and whether it consequently resulted in harsh treatment of the Indian diplomat is something that might emerge in the coming days.

The state department has promised to investigate how and why such methods were used on a diplomat who was so obviously not in that category But the US marshals service, which subjected the diplomat to the treatment, stood its ground, suggesting that insofar as it was concerned, once the state department's Diplomatic Security Service signed off on the arrestee as having no immunity, "standard procedure" kicked in.

In other words, it is not to be blamed for the fiasco; it was just doing its job by the book.

The question now arises as to why role did the state department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security " which also takes care of US security interests at its missions in India " play in initiating this extreme step, who signed off on it, and why there was no effort to defuse the situation in Washington DC.

As reported on Tuesday, US officials told ToI that the state department alerted the Indian embassy in writing in September to the imminent action against the diplomat on the basis of the housekeeper's complaint. However, Indian officials countered that it was part of an ongoing correspondence on resolving the matter in which the legal systems of both countries had kicked in.

Both sides are now reviewing the timeline and sequence of events to determine where the screw-up occurred and how to get around it.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/John-Kerry-calls-Shivshankar-Menon-to-express-regret-about-Devyanis-treatment-defends-US-laws/articleshow/27608161.cms