The issue of the labour agreement came up during discussions between the Minister of State for External Affairs, E Ahamed and Oman's Minister of Manpower Juma bin Ali Al Juma in Muscat on Wednesday.
"The draft of the MoU has been handed over to Oman's ministry of manpower for its consideration and it is our fervent hope that the memorandum may be signed during the visit of a high-level delegation from Oman to India by the year-end," Ahmed told reporters.
The draft MoU include various measures for the welfare of Indian workers so as to check many labour-related problems especially the activities of unscrupulous recruiting agents in India, Ahamed, who is on a four-day
official visit to the Sultanate, said.
"Stringent actions have been taken by the Indian government and within the framework of the MoU on labour we are trying to plug the loopholes these people are exploiting," he said.
Some of the measures being implemented by the Indian government are showing results in Oman too, Ahamed added.
The Indian embassy in Oman has registered 5,925 housemaids and 956 labour contracts in the past nine months, he said.
