-------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Read V.M. de Malar's latest Column: | | | | Politics of Destruction | | | | http://www.goanet.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sidA6 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Britain needs Indian cooks, says Keith Vaz Source: IANS.
London, March 21 : Keith Vaz, prominent British lawmaker of Indian origin, has urged the Tony Blair government to relax the immigration system so that cooks from India can obtain work permits to work in Indian restaurants in Britain. Vaz, the Labour MP from Leicester - a town in the east Midlands with a large minority of Indian origin - told the House of Commons that Indian and Chinese restaurants in Leicester were facing a crisis due to shortage of cooks. Indian and Chinese restaurants in Leicester are known as among the best in Britain, Vaz said. The diverse dishes served in the restaurants are cooked by chefs trained in their home countries, he added. Urging Home Secretary Charles Clarke to relax the new immigration system, Vaz noted that the demand for cooks from India and China was greater since many of the founders of Indian and Chinese restaurants who opened their establishments in the 1960s were approaching retirement and their children had no interest in running them. Vaz said: "I welcome the government's attempt to simplify a very complicated immigration system. However, I remain gravely concerned that it will not deal with the huge level of shortages of chefs for Indian and other South Asian restaurants." According to Vaz, Britain had the largest number of Indian restaurants outside India - numbering almost 10,000. They serve some two million meals a week and the sector was worth £3.2 billion to the British economy. Clarke said he did not agree with the points raised by Vaz but promised to monitor the system. Owners of Indian and Chinese restaurants have been told to recruit east European cooks who now have the right to work in Britain. The owners have been resisting this on the ground that cooking the specialised food involved knowing the culture of the cuisine. http://www.msn.co.in/ ---------------------------------------- Upgrade your account today for increased storage; mail forwarding or POP enabled e-mail with automatic virus scanning. Visit our member benefits page at https://members.canada.com/benefits.aspx for more information.
