Saudi King orders to pay unpaid salaries; SR100 million to be deposited

[email protected] (ARAB NEWS)
August 8, 2016

Jeddah, Aug 8: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman on Sunday issued a series of directives to agencies concerned to address once and for all the cases of distressed workers of companies who have contracts with the government.king web

The king directed the Minister of Labour and Social Development to take necessary measures, in coordination with the Ministry of Finance, to oblige contracting companies to pay the salaries of their employees in accordance with the government's Wage Protection Program that ensures workers' salaries are fully paid.

According to sabq.org, the directive is for the government not to release what it owes those companies unless the Labor Ministry confirms that the companies have paid on time what they owe their employees.

The king's directives comes amid increasing complaints by workers that they have not been paid their salaries for months. Construction giant Saudi Oger, for one, has been the subject of complaints by thousands of its workers for not paying their salaries for the past nine months.

The issue came to a head when hundreds of expatriate workers of the company marched on the streets in Jeddah to air their grievances, saying that Saudi Oger management has simply ignored them.

Accomodation, exit visas

In one of his directives on Sunday, King Salman authorized the labor minister to also immediately address the housing and accommodation services of the distressed workers by contracting with companies that provide such services.

While the government of India and the Philippines as well as their communities in the kingdom have rallied behind their compatriots at Saudi Oger by providing them food, those of other nationalities have reportedly not gotten the same attention.

According to the king's directive, the cost of these services for the distressed workers are to be deducted from the employers' receivables from the government.

The king also commissioned the labor minister to coordinate with the Saudi Arabian airlines to transport foreign workers who wish to return to their countries and to charge the cost to their employers. The labor minister is also authorized to contract with legal consultancy agencies to pursue the financial claims of the workers in local courts.

In the case of workers in distress who wish to leave the kingdom, the king directed the Passport Department to facilitate issuance of final exit visas in coordination with the Foreign Ministry and relevant agencies.

SR100 million fund

An amount of SR100 million is to be deposited in the Saudi Arab Fund account for use to fulfill the king's orders. The fund is to be under the disposal of the labor minister, who will provide the Ministry of Finance with all details of the expenditures and the amounts spent. The Finance Ministry will then deduct the spent amounts from the floundering companies' accounts.

The king also instructed the labor minister to meet with representatives of countries concerned to discuss the issue of unpaid salaries and to explain the steps taken by the kingdom to address such issues.

“King Salman also directed labor minister to coordinate with the minister of culture and information to highlight the kingdom's efforts aimed at ending the suffering of the distressed workers especially the Indian and the Filipino workers and to ensure that this case was a mere individual mishap by one company and the number of affected workers is insignificant compared with the millions of other expats who are working in the public and he private sectors in KSA,” Sabq.org said.

Comments

Mohammed SS
 - 
Tuesday, 9 Aug 2016

This is a true quality and nature of blood, there is no Gangasara and energy of Haram mixed with their blood like our Indian Bakwas ministers, long live KSA and King Salman for the prompt step and to prove that your country is a safest and peaceful in the world

Fairman
 - 
Monday, 8 Aug 2016

Dear Dombiah,

Please don't play dombarata.

Coastal Digest may pro-Saudi. But it is not anti national.

Though pockets of unrest here, Still Saudi is the safest and peaceful place to live on.

God bless KSA

Abdul Latif
 - 
Monday, 8 Aug 2016

Generosity...Al Hamdulillah

Irfan
 - 
Monday, 8 Aug 2016

May Allah bless kingdom and the King Salman for his kind gesture.
Even our Govt also did amazing job by reaching out to those hard working people.

Rikaz
 - 
Monday, 8 Aug 2016

Good job His Royal Highness! May Allah help you.....you are just doing exactly what is said in the Holy Book of Quran....

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News Network
March 2,2020

Udupi, Mar 2: The Kundapur police carried out raids at various clubs in Kundapur Sub-division limits and arrested around 50 persons involved in illegal gambling and seized Rs 2.5 lakhs from their possession, the police said on Monday.

According to the police, on Sunday night, based on credible information, the Kudapur Sub-division police led by ASP Hariram Shanker and team raided various clubs in Goliyangadi, Siddapur, Koteswar and Basrur where the accused were found gambling illegally.

All the clubs had taken court permission for recreation but were illegally indulging in gambling. They had also violated the court conditions and were involved in illegal gambling.

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News Network
June 29,2020

Karwar, June 29: The additional sessions court, Sirsi town police station and office of the deputy superintendent of police in Uttara Kannada district were sealed on Sunday after an undertrial was found positive for Covid-19.

The undertrial, accused of stealing a bike, from Hubballi was arrested by Sirsi police and had initially tested negative. He was confirmed infected when his samples were tested the second time.

He was arrested by Dharwad police in connection with a bike theft case. During interrogation it was found that he had stolen bikes in Sirsi too. Sirsi police had brought him from Dharwad sub-jail for the interrogation and was produced in the court.

The accused was in Manipal jail for some time after he was convicted there for the bike theft. While bringing him to Sirsi the police had wore PPE kits.

When he was produced in the court the judge had reportedly directed the police test him for covid as he had some symptoms.

His swab was collected and sent to the lab. In the first test the result was negative but it was positive in another test. At that time he was in Sirsi sub-jail. 10 police officials who had come into his contact have been quarantined. The police station has been sealed down and the court will be closed down on Monday and Tuesday.

All the under trails who were kept with him in the sub-jail have been isolated and their swab has been sent for the testing.

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News Network
February 28,2020

The Karnataka BJP, which faced action on Twitter earlier this month over incendiary tweets, this time has passed the blame of Sangh Parivar sponsored Delhi violence to the victims.

In an insensitive tweet on Friday, it dubbed the protests against the notorious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) as "fake" and added that the violence that followed was "the most well-planned assault on the Idea of India," in an apparent attempt to portray the victims as villains.

The handle, notorious for tweets targeting Muslims, blamed the clashes that erupted in Delhi between people demonstrating for and against the CAA on "so called 'Peacefuls'" - a known right-wing slur for Muslims.

Many people on social media called out the tweet for misleading people and covering up the role of Delhi BJP leader Kapil Mishra's provocative speech for triggering the violence or the failure of the Delhi Police, which reports to the former BJP chief and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, in controlling the riots.

Earlier this month, the Karnataka BJP had tweeted a video of Muslim women standing in queue to vote in the Delhi elections, showing their voter ID cards, with the snarky caption: "Keep the documents safe, you will need to show them again during NPR (National Population Register) exercise."

Soon after, the party unit's Twitter handle was blocked by the social media platform for 24 hours after many accused it of encouraging Islamophobia.

NPR has been widely criticised by opposition parties as a precursor to the government's planned NRC or National Register of Citizens which intends to make Indians prove their citizenship with documents that many poor or illiterate do not possess.

Many fear that combined with the already imposed CAA - which promises citizenship to only non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh - the NRC can be used to make millions of Muslims stateless.

The government has denied the allegation and said the CAA only intends to help those who have faced religious persecution. In recent weeks, it has gone back on its rhetoric on the NRC which was announced by Amit Shah in parliament as "it will certainly happen".

The CAA, which was cleared by parliament in December, has triggered deadly protests in the country which left at least 25 dead till Sunday. Since then, at least 42 more people have been killed as large-scale violence erupted in northeast Delhi and hundreds of homes and shops have been burned to the ground.

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