Indian envoy in Saudi requested to rescue 33 Odia workers

Bhubaneswar: Odisha government has requested the ambassador of India at Riyadh in Saudi Arabia for the rescue and repatriation of stranded Odia workers.

After receiving distress calls and messages from some of the Odia workers employed in the Gulf country, Chief Secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena on Thursday wrote a letter to Suhel Azaj Khan, ambassador of India at Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.

The Chief Secretary has also forwarded a copy of his letter to the Joint Secretary (Gulf Division), Ministry of External Affairs. The Indian citizens employed in Saudi Arabia have reportedly been cheated by their employers, Jena said.

"It is found that 33 of them are from Odisha while 10 others are from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The Gulf Odia Society, which was pressed into service, could contact the forlorn workers from Odisha and it is found that their Iqama (Visa) are not being renewed by their company owners (Qafeel)," the Chief Secretary wrote in his letter.

He said the workers have not been paid their salary and are deprived of basic amenities like food, water and medicines. The workers are working in M/s Hadi Al Hammam Group, at Camp-47, Juaymah in Saudi Arabia. Attaching a list of the 33 persons from Odisha along with his letter, Jena requested the Indian ambassador in Saudi for their rescue and repatriation.