The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Plight of Indian workers to be probed

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Monday, Mar 10, 2008
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Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Plight of Indian workers to be probed

G. Anand

Thiruvananthapuram: Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi has ordered an inquiry into the plight of 600 Indian workers, 85 per cent of them Keralites, who allegedly endured “slave-like” working conditions for two years in the labour camp of a shipping and marine fabrication company in the U.S.

Mr. Ravi told The Hindu over telephone from New Delhi that the Indian embassy in the U.S. would inquire into the matter and report back to him at the earliest.

The Minister said he was disturbed to learn about the appalling living conditions of the workers. He was shocked to learn that despair had driven one of them (a Keralite hailing from the Minister’s native place in Cherthala) to attempt suicide. The Minister said he directed ambassador Ronen Sen to take up the matter with U.S. authorities and also the company. A Mumbai-based recruitment firm had allegedly cheated the workers by charging them Rs. 10 lakh per head for job visas and permanent resident status (green card) in the U. S.

The firm had placed a series of advertisements in Indian and Gulf-based newspapers in 2006. Over 600 workers, trusting the promises made by the recruiter, left their jobs in India and the Gulf. The workers “realised” that they were “cheated” when they arrived in the U.S. and found that they had been issued H2b visas, which allowed them to work only for the shipping company.

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