Uttam offers balm to Gulf migrant workers

​Hyderabad: Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Friday promised that the Congress party, if it is elected to power, would establish Gulf Facilitation Centres to help nearly 10 lakh migrant workers of Telangana who are working in different Gulf countries.

Those centres would provide assistance to Gulf immigrants in case of ill-health, death or any other problem. Uttam Kumar Reddy, along with other senior leaders including AICC Telangana In-charge RC Khuntia, AICC Secretary Madhu Yashki Goud, ex-MLA T Jeevan Reddy, TPCC NRI Cell Convener S V Reddy and others, visited the labour camps in Alqouz area of Dubai on Friday.

Speaking on the occasion, Uttam Kumar Reddy assured that the next Congress government would come up with a comprehensive NRI policy within 100 days of coming to power.

He said Gulf Facilitation Centres would be established to provide required access and help to all the migrant workers at times of their need. He said a special NRI cell would be established in all the District Collectorates of Telangana. He said more than 900 Telangana immigrants in the Gulf countries died due to various reasons, primarily ill-health, during the last four-and-a-half years. But the TRS government did nothing for their families.

He said many a time the migrant workers from Telangana could not convey their grievances even at the Indian Embassies in Gulf countries as they could not speak English or Hindi and the officials did not understand Telugu language. Therefore, he said that the next Congress government would take immediate measures to bridge this gap by appointing Telugu-speaking officials in the embassies.

He also promised that a fund of Rs 500 crore would be set up to help the migrant workers. He promised that the Gulf migrant workers, who are forced to return home due to ill-health, would get a health insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh. Further, he said ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh would be paid to the families of those workers who die due to various diseases either in Gulf or after they return to their native place.

He said steps would be taken to provide education and other facilities to the children of migrant workers. Uttam said that the Congress government would put in its full efforts to establish Saudi and UAE consulates in Hyderabad. He said the next government would conduct a scientific study to ascertain the reasons leading to migration and would overcome those problems.

Later in the evening, Uttam, Khuntia and other Congress leaders participated in the 'Diwali Dhoomdham' programme in Dubai which was attended by over 2,000 migrant workers.