RIYADH: The recruiting agent who sent a group of Indian workers -- now stranded in the Kingdom after being thrown out of their accommodation by their sponsor -- has said he would try to resolve the issue in conjunction with the Saudi sponsor and Indian officials.
The four workers, who are currently homeless and living on charity doled out by others, say they were made to do jobs different from what they had been promised; housed on a building terrace; not paid; and finally evicted when they complained to the Indian mission against their sponsor.
Passports and other documents of the four workers, Ilyas Puthukkudipparamb, Manoj Kumar, Ratheesh Kumar and Mohammed Rafeeq were taken by the sponsor.
Radhakrishnan, the owner of the Golden Wings travel agency in Kozhikode, who would not provide his full name, said he has authorized his representative in Riyadh, a man he named only as Jayapal, to provide these workers with food and housing while he tries to persuade the Saudi sponsor to find alternative placements in supermarkets or hospitals as agreed back home.
The workers initially signed up for such service jobs, but when they arrived they said they were made to clean a chemical storage tank. Radhakrishnan said he would seek the help of TA EXPO Placement Services, the main recruiting agent in Mumbai for the resolution of the issue.
Radhakrishnan said he would be willing to reimburse the workers the fee he was paid, though it is unknown how much he received out of the money the workers paid to come to the Kingdom.
The workers say they paid 100,000 Indian rupees ($2,100) each for their employment and ticket to Saudi Arabia. It is unknown how much the sponsor paid for these employees.
No representative of the company that hired the workers has been willing to go on the record with Arab News about this case.
Under Radhakrishnan's instructions, Jayapal will also meet P. Balachandran, the community welfare attaché at the Indian Embassy, to seek the mission's assistance in resolving this problem without further delay.
The Indian government and the Saudi governmental Human Rights Commission (HRC) are scrutinizing the case. It is believed that their pressure has caused the recruiting agent to come forward with a plan to resolve the issue.
Earlier this week the HRC intervened in the case, describing it as a serious violation of local labor laws.
By Mohammed Rasooldeen
© Arab News 2008
