Mumbai: Sanjay Kumar has finally heaved a sigh of relief. The unjust war in Iraq is over, and he is standing in a queue at an overseas recruitment office in downtown Mumbai. His mission? To go back to Kuwait (from where he had to flee at the onset of the war), or even to war-torn Iraq, to work as a cook, or even as a janitor, for American and British troops stationed in the Middle East.

"Six months back I had to pawn my wife's jewellery to go to Kuwait as a labourer. But fate intervened and I was packed off to Mumbai last month," laments Kumar. He didn't go to his native Patna, lest his kith and kin would humiliate him; instead he holed up in a seedy hotel in Mumbai's Kalbadevi, trying to grab the first opportunity to return to the Gulf.

Now Kumar's prayers have been answered. He might have to go to a far-flung desert like many of his ilk, but this time round he does not have to shell out any money to any agent.

And how about the agents? If hopes have come back in job-seekers' minds, smiles have started appearing on job-recruiters' faces.

The impetus
Iraq is in a shambles thanks to many. First, by a dictator called Saddam Hussein who was only interested in enriching himself. Second, due to the barbarous attack on the Iraqi citizenry by US-led forces assuming the role of world police. And finally by gluttonous Iraqis themselves, looting and destroying whatever this legendary nation possessed.

Iraq needs restoring and reconstruction, and the immediate need is to recruit cheap labour, assign work to builders and buy building material from suppliers. India fits the bill.

Says S Satchidanandan, the proprietor of Bindu Recruitment Agency, who owns a office in a dilapidated building in the city's Fort area: "I don't even get time to eat lunch these days; job-aspirants throng in my small office, phones never cease to ring, and I can't cope up with the speed. I need more staff." These words come from a man who was seriously planning to give up his dwindling business just one month ago.

The immediate job opportunities in Iraq and some other Gulf countries like Kuwait are for waiters, storekeepers, cooks, service assistants, financial supervisors, bus drivers and accountants, and thousands of job-seekers are even ready to work for a meagre salary of, say, Rs 7,000. And most of them go on three-month visas, which can be renewed subsequently.

The first batch of around 250 people has already left the Indian shores, courtesy Mumbai-based Royal Consultants. Since recruitment agencies get direct commissions from companies from the Gulf, they do not really care for the inconsequential fee the job-aspirants cough up.

And when it comes to construction business Indians do not have the upper edge - it's the prerogative of American and British companies, which have got the best of the contracts. Like the San Franciso-based Bechel Group, which has close links to the Bush administration. The engineering firm has won the main contract for the reconstruction of Iraq's infrastructure, sealing a deal worth up to $680 million to build the country's electrical, water and sewage systems.

Many Indian companies, like Kalpataru Construction, which is in constant touch with these multinational companies, thus end up getting the sub-contracts. An employee with a construction company, which eyes for lucrative contracts in Iraq, says: "Once US and European companies garner a major chunk of the contract works, there would be little work left for us."

India's somewhat anti-war stand could also be detrimental since the US and the UK are seriously considering whether to give India work in a place they just ruined. Exports, mainly foodgrains, is one area Indian could concentrate on. Also there are good opportunities for companies specialised in telecommunications and water supply work. This too, however, depends on the mood of you know who.

But all these do not deter the spirit of Kumar and Satchidanandan. As they say, make hay while the sun shines.