New Delhi, Sept. 30: Union home minister P. Chidambaram today said India would not encourage permits for unskilled and semi-skilled workers under a new visa regime, a move that will affect Chinese and Bangladeshi nationals.

In July, the home ministry said all foreigners needed to hold employment visas. That, however, was aimed at Chinese workers, some 25,000 of who work here carrying business visas. The deadline for conversion of these visas was extended till October 31 after Chinese envoy Zhang Yan called on home secretary G.K. Pillai last week.

Chidambaram added a new dimension today. “Our policy (on visas) is that we will not encourage visas for unskilled and semi-skilled workers, we have enough unskilled and semi-skilled workers,” he said, apparently keeping in mind the huge number of Bangladeshi migrants who work across India and Chinese nationals who carry business visas.

Chidambaram was speaking at a media conference where he presented a monthly “report card” on the home ministry in September.

Foreign nationals already here on such business visas would be allowed to complete the duration of the visa before being reassessed. Chidambaram said it was simple to decide what was semi-skilled and skilled. Those with specific skills would be allowed to function, he added.

This is the first official statement by the Centre on the new visa regime.

While the Chinese workers are mostly in power, gas and steel projects, tens and thousands of Bangladeshi nationals work in the Northeast, Bengal and elsewhere as rickshaw-pullers or farm labourers. While most of them are illegal, Chidambaram’s point will be heard louder with a rider on border fencing.

The home minister said India would construct fencing on the zero-line, a debated issue between the two countries. Under the Indira-Mujib accord, no defence structure can be constructed within 150 yards of the zero-line.

“Bangladesh has understood this in one way,” said Chidambaram. “Fencing is not a defensive structure,” he said.

In response to a question on the 89 missing Chinese workers from the Balco plant in Korba, Chhattisgarh, Chidambaram said they needed to remain in India as the investigation into the case was in progress. A chimney collapse last Wednesday killed 41 workers at the under-construction plant.

The home minister played down the issue, arguing that the Chinese workers had left Korba for their own safety. The Centre reportedly issued lookout notices for the workers at airports across the country.