Fate of 5,000 Telugus hangs in balance

​Hyderabad: With the India-Maldives ties taking a nose dive, Hyderabadis working in the Maldives archipelago are a worried lot. Of the 30,000 Indians working in the nation comprising 1,200 islands in the Indian Ocean, almost 5,000 persons hail from Telugu speaking states. Thousands are facing a squeeze on work permits and are worried that they may not be renewed if they return to their home states.

Teachers, nurses, doctors form a major chunk of Indians apart from those working in the 180 plus resorts. Twenty-five per cent of the teaching staff and 125 out of the 400 doctors are from India.An estimated 2,000 applications for work permits are pending and there is a directive from the President’s office against issuing work permits to Indians. 

Sardar, a teacher from Warangal who is working in Imaduddin School in the capital Male, in a telephonic conversation said, “The situation has definitely worsened as the diplomatic relations have hit an all-time low.” He further adds, “Many from the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad are scattered across the 26 atolls and are tensed.”

The downswing started after Prime Minister Narendra Modi cancelled his trip to Male in 2015. In the meanwhile, China has consolidated its position with free trade agreements, building a bridge between islands to ease commute. Ismail Hassan, a former school principal who works in the Ministry of Justice presently, in a message over IMO messenger refutes there were restrictions on issue of visas. He says, “There is no objection for issue of visas. The Indian Prime Minister himself is responsible for the present situation of uncertainty.

Meanwhile, many Indians are living in fear that they may lose their jobs.” Even as the Maldivian government refutes the allegations that visas are not given to Indians, the Marriott chain of hotels on Wednesday advertised that work permits are not given to Indian nationals. Ravi, a former teacher and now in travel business says, “As many as 84,000 Indians visited Maldives in 2017 and there has been a 24 per cent increase in the number of Indian tourists.”

 Meena R V, a former teacher says, “I worked for eight years in Laamu Atoll in the Maldives and the government always looked up to India in crisis but now it is distancing itself and is getting closer to China.”

June 30 is the last date for the personnel manning the Indian helicopters in the Maldives and the Maldivian government has conveyed to India that it would not extend the visas. This is seen as a major decision that could have far reaching effects not only on Indo-Maldivian relations but also for the thousands of Indians who work in the isle.