Thank you King Salman! Saudi to send stranded Indians back at its own expense

August 4, 2016

New Delhi, Aug 4: In a diplomatic victory for India, Saudi Arabia has agreed to give exit visas to hundreds of jobless Indian workers there and will send them back home at its own expense.

King-Salman copyMaking a suo motu statement in Rajya Sabha, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said Saudi Arabia has also agreed to provide free medical facility and food to the Indian workers stranded in camps and also allow those eligible to seek re-employment with other companies.

She said her deputy and Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh was camping in Saudi Arabia since Tuesday evening and will return after formalising the arrangements for the Indian workers.

"I am happy to inform that the Saudi ruler has taken note of the plight of Indian workers... Saudi King Salman has instructed the officials to resolve the issue in two days," she said.

Saudi Arabia, Swaraj said, has agreed to the Indian government's request to grant exit visas to the stranded worker.

It has also offered to transport the workers to India. "Government of India will not have to spend a penny on that," she said.

The Islamic nation has also permitted workers to take re-employment if other companies find them suitable, she said, adding that before departing, the Indian workers will register their claims of unpaid salaries and other dues with the Labour Office of Saudi Arabia.

Indian Embassy in Riyadh will follow up with the Labour Office of Saudi Arabia to get all the dues of workers cleared, she said.

The Minister said the Saudi ruler has also issued orders to provide free medical and food to Indian workers lodged in the camps apart from all civic amenities.

Thanking the Saudi ruler, she said this was possible because of the personal and diplomatic relationship stuck by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his recent visit to Islamic nation.

Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad complimented the Indian and the Saudi governments for reaching a solution on the issue.

Also Read: Let's not forget, 3 million Indian expats happily living in Saudi Arabia!

Comments

Maruthi veethika
 - 
Thursday, 4 Aug 2016

ASH Mangalore rightly said ...............HUNGRY IN KSA ? Impossible

Food is very very cheap in KSA

and No one allow you to be hungry if he is aware ....

aharkul
 - 
Thursday, 4 Aug 2016

Madam Sushma Swaraj done great job by sending delegates to Saudi Arabia. Thank you Sushmaji for your great work. We need woman like you to improve our great country India. Please ask other goondas and sanga parivars to stop attacking poor people of the country in the name of Cow.

Cow is an animal and no one will pray for that. It is created by God and it should not be god or Gomatha. Please try to understand the reality of the religion.

Madam you have done lot of good work in your tenure. This is my humble request please stop the attacker and bring the new judiciary of punishment for this attacker in name of Cow.

Hope take the initiative step soon madam.

Ash
 - 
Thursday, 4 Aug 2016

There is misconception that Indians hunger in KSA. None here without food, those who created this mess only because company issue and pay issue. Wheat have subsidy in KSA and very cheapest in the world so none can hunger.
Appreciate Sushma's initiate but those who going back India will be trouble because no job secure and none will take care those who return to India. They have better life here than India.
People take credit through social media and no one will aware there after life who returned to India.

Rasheed M P
 - 
Thursday, 4 Aug 2016

Thank you Sushmaji for your effort. Great work. India need more candidate like you.

Rikaz
 - 
Thursday, 4 Aug 2016

Media is spreading lies about Saudi Arabia....In Saudi Arabia, you don't need to spend much money for food...within few riyals you get nice lunch with good pieces of beef...what a country....these stranded employees will find good jobs around....King gave them full freedom to choose companies and transfer their sponsorship....

Honest
 - 
Thursday, 4 Aug 2016

A sign that cheddi govt and cheddi members never appreciate. and never do themselves big help which saudi govt did and I remember they do here many times to the stranded jobless expats.

Cheddi and their news liars should stop spreading lies and start praising the Good works which may not be in seen the parliament or in the news channels in the future days.

Sadashiva Shetty
 - 
Thursday, 4 Aug 2016

That's the decision of the king... the most generous king in the world. Can Indian govt expects such a generosity form any other govt in the world? Saudi has provided jobs to over three million Indians, who are sending home billions of dollar to India every year. Am truly inspired by this divinely inspired generosity.

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News Network
July 31,2020

Bengaluru, July 31: Denying irregularities in covid-19 equipment purchase by the Karnataka government, the state unit of the BJP has issued legal notices to Congress leaders Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar demanding that they apologize or face a defamation suit. 

The notices seek a public apology for the allegations levelled against the government on irregularities in the procurement of Covid-19 equipment and supplies. 

Both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, the Karnataka Congress president, have been doggedly pursuing allegations of corruption against the BJP government and have demanded a judicial inquiry. 

BJP general secretary N Ravi Kumar said that while the Congress leaders claimed that Rs 4,157 crore was spent during Covid-19, they also allege that the government has not responded to any of the 20 letters written by them. "If the government has not provided any answer to the Opposition, where did they get the figures from," he said.

None of the allegations of corruption is specific and the statements made are factually incorrect. "These statements, without any basis, have been issued calculatedly to lower the image and damage the reputation of the government, the Bharatiya Janata Party, representatives of the party and the ministers in the government," the notice issued on behalf of Ravi Kumar read.

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News Network
May 22,2020
Bengaluru, May 22: Evacuation planes from Male in Maldives and Doha in Qatar landed in Bengaluru with returnees from Karnataka after they were stranded for two months due to suspension of international flights since March 23 and the extended lockdown, an official said on Friday.
 
"An Air-India flight (#0266) with 152 passengers from Male and its subsidiary Express flight (IX-0822) with 177 returnees and 5 infants from Doha landed here safely at 6.50 pm. and 9.05 pm respectively," an airline official told media persons in Bengaluru.
 
Both the flights are first from their respective countries to Bengaluru, bringing in returnees to the southern state in the second phase of the Vande Bharat mission, being carried out to evacuate Indians stranded the world over.
 
"As per the standard operating procedure and guidelines of the state health department, all the passengers were screened with thermal device and tested to ensure they were asymptomatic before leaving the airport," a nodal officer said.
 
The returnees were given a spare mask to wear all the time and a sanitiser to wash their hands.
 
"The luggage of all passengers was screened and disinfected before handing over to them after they completed formalities such as filling the self-declaration form and downloading of the Quarantine App for contact tracing later,” said the official.
 
The passengers were ferried from the airport in state-run buses in batches for 14-day institutional quarantine in hotels and resorts across the city.
 
The flights were the 6th and 7th flights to Karnataka, of the national carrier and its Express arm, which are operating the service to repatriate thousands of Indians, including distressed workers, migrants, students, senior citizens and tourists, stranded overseas.
 
Five flights have flown about 650 returnees till date from May 18-21 under the mission's second phase to Bengaluru and Mangaluru on the west coast. The passengers have been brought from Dubai in the UAE, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, Muscat in Oman, Dammam in Saudi Arabia and San Francisco in the US.
 
The remaining flights to Karnataka will land in Bengaluru and Mangaluru over the next 12 days till June 3 from 9-10 more destinations the world over.
 
In the first phase of the mission from May 7-17, the airline and its arm flew 6 flights to the state from May 11-15, bringing in 800 passengers, including 623 to Bengaluru and 177 to Mangaluru from London, Singapore, San Francisco and Dubai.

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coastaldigest.com news network
July 16,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 16: Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa led state government’s move to amend the Karnataka Land Reforms Act was “a scam bigger than illegal mining” as farm lands worth Rs 50,000 crore will be lost, according to Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah.

The government on July 13 promulgated an ordinance to amend the Karnataka Land Reforms Act, allowing non-agriculturists to buy agricultural lands while also increasing the cap on the extent of such land a person or a family can hold.

Plus, the amendment will have retrospective effect, meaning over 13,000 cases registered over the years for alleged violations in acquiring farm lands will be vacated or dismissed.

“There are 13,814 cases across all 30 districts. Let’s assume that each case involves four acres of land. That’s 52,000 acres. These are lands worth Rs 45,000-50,000 crore,” Siddaramaiah told a news conference. “This is a scam bigger than illegal mining. While the mining scam had specific players, here the entire government has fallen for the corporate bodies and real estate lobby.”

The illegal mining scam unearthed when the BJP was in power was pegged at Rs 35,000 crore, which became a poll plank for the Congress to come to power in 2013.

Calling it a “black” legislation, Siddaramaiah said the amendments to the land reforms law will result in large portions of farm lands becoming real estate. “This will destroy the farming community. They’ll now have to stand at the doors of corporate bodies. Farmers will sell their land and real estate will come. What’ll happen to food production?” he said.

The ordinance amends Section 63 and 80 of the Act, while omitting Sections 79A, B and C. “These sections were inserted in 1974 under the D Devaraj Urs government. It was a revolutionary, progressive step to protect farmers and ensure social justice,” Siddaramaiah said.

The Congress leader claimed that there was a “biggest conspiracy” behind this. “All this is being driven by the Modi government. They want to privatize more and more so that reservations will go. They want to bring back the zamindari system,” he said, citing the examples of some other recent amendments to other laws.

The timing of the ordinance is suspect, he said. “If the Yediyurappa government really wanted to help farmers and had good intentions, they could’ve brought this before the Assembly or placed it for public discussion. Instead, they’ve made use of the lockdown period to promulgate the ordinance,” he said.

The Congress will fight the ordinance till it gets withdrawn, Siddaramaiah said. “We will talk to other parties, farmers organisations and Dalit groups to plan protests against the BJP’s hidden agenda and anti-farmer policies,” he added.

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