Mangaluru woman returns home after Saudi ordeal; thanks ISF for timely help

coastaldigest.com news network
November 26, 2017

Mangaluru, Nov 26: A woman from Mangaluru’s Vamanjoor locality, who had stranded in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia after allegedly being duped by a local visa agent, finally returned home and reunited with her family on Sunday.

“I am grateful to the activists of India Social Forum (ISF). They helped me when I was in need. They treated me like own family members. I and my family cannot forget their help,” said 43-year-old Vijaya after she landed at Mangaluru International Airport on Sunday. Vijaya’s son, who is a PU student and activist of SDPI were present at the airport to welcome her.

Wife of Balappa Balakrishna, residing at Kelarai Kody in Vamajoor, Vijaya had left for the country on July 15, 2015 to work as housemaid in the oil-rich kingdom. The poor financial condition of her family had forced her to migrate to the Middle East. The local visa agent had promised her attractive salary and annual vacation.

However, when she decided to return home a few months ago, her sponsor, who had reportedly paid money to the agent, refused to return her passport and other documents. When the activists of Dakshina Kannada unit of Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) came to know the issue through her family members, they passed the information to ISF workers, who not only approached the stranded woman but also lodged complaint with Indian embassy and Labour department in the Kingdom.

Vijaya’s sponsor had to handover all the documents to her last week following the intervention of the authorities of Indian embassy and Saudi labour department. She came to Mangaluru via Mumbai.

Comments

AK
 - 
Tuesday, 28 Nov 2017

PFI and ISF are seen as villian only in RSS Channels . In reality they are helpful towards the society which are not portrayed to public by the channels controlled by the communal outfits.. As their reporters are sold out for petty cash which will give them enjoyment for few days.

Zakariya abdulrahman
 - 
Monday, 27 Nov 2017

Great Job by Indian Social Forum and SDPI. Your hard work is always appreciated by our fellow Indians. You have saved many lives as usual.

 

This is real love jihad. Jihad in human love. Jihad in rescue of a human irrespective of religion caste 

Syed
 - 
Monday, 27 Nov 2017

This is called Humanity. well done Team ISF.

 

can anyone show an example of muslim person stranded in any country and helped by RSS, VHP,SRS,BD?

Sajid Al Khobar
 - 
Sunday, 26 Nov 2017

great work done by Indian social Forum team, keep going - hats off  

ganesh
 - 
Sunday, 26 Nov 2017

Hatts off to ISF and PFI Great job

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News Network
April 14,2020

Dubai, Apr 14: Around 2,500 Indians have approached Indian missions in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) seeking help to be flown home during the ongoing coronavirus lockdown, top diplomats have said.

The Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the Indian Consulate in Dubai together have received requests from "a little more than 1,000 individuals" while the latter has received an additional request from an employer who has laid-off around 1,000 Indian workers, reports Gulf News on Monday.

According to the Indian Ambassador to the UAE Pavan Kapoor, the missions have not been bombarded with mass requests from the people who wish to take an immediate flight home unlike widespread reports on social media.

Most of the individuals who have expressed their interest to return home are visitors and those who lost their jobs, he told Gulf News.

Consul General of India in Dubai, Vipul said his mission had received nearly 1000 requests via email and phone from people who want to return home.

"A majority of them are visit visa holders. On Sunday, we got information about another large group of around 1,000 Indian workers who have lost jobs. The employer has got in touch to know the options to send them back home as early as possible," he told Gulf News.

However, the diplomatic heads refuted unverified reports that claim tens of thousands of Indians were scrambling to fly home during the pandemic.

They added that the missions have been aiding hundreds of workers, who have been left in the lurch by their employers, with provisions.

The Indian government had said that flight services cannot be resumed during the lockdown period, which has now been extended till May 3.

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News Network
May 17,2020

Bengaluru, May 17: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and Transport Minister Laxman Savadi on Sunday wrote to Union Minister Nitin Gadkari requesting to issue new lockdown guidelines including permission to operate public transport and said the lockdown has caused a financial loss of Rs 16,00 crore to all four Karnataka Transport Undertakings.

In view of these problems, the state Transport Minister requested Gadkari to permit the deployment of Non-AC buses on scheduled routes to ensure the adequacy of services.

The four State Transport Undertakings (STUs) in Karnataka which are providing bus-based public transport services within the state and to the neighbouring states are Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), North West Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC), North Eastern Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NEKRTC) and Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC).

"KSRTC, NWKRTC and NEKRTC operate buses for mofussil services i.e. Interdistrict, intradistrict and interstate, whereas BMTC operates only in urban and suburban areas in the city of Bengaluru. The four STUs put together hold a fleet of about 24,900 buses including 1,520 air-conditioned buses and operate about 71.00 lakh km. per day and carries about 98.00 lakh passengers every single day," Savadi outlined in the letter.

The Minister said due to the COVID-19 outbreak and the lockdown that ensued have brought regular bus operations and functioning to a grinding halt.

"This has caused a devastating impact on the operations of all the four STUs due to the combination of lack of revenue and continuing fixed costs such as salaries and pensions to staff, payables against existing loans etc. It has been estimated that the lockdown has caused a financial loss of INR 1,600/- crore to these four STUs," he added.

Savadi said even after post-COVID lockdown, operations and revenues won't reach its previous demand& supply patterns in the next six to eight months due to reduced economic activity and users' perceived risk of contacting COVID in public transport.

In addition to that, "occupancy should be allowed up to seating capacity (without standees). This is essential to meet minimal demand," he said in the letter.

"The crew should wear facemask and hand gloves. The crew with health issues should not be deployed. The face masks should be made mandatory for all the passengers. Only asymptomatic persons should be allowed to travel in public transport. The Government of India may consider staggering working hours for various sectors to reduce peak hour traffic demand," the minister listed out these recommendations in the letter.

Savadi said that with social distancing norm of reduced seating capacity in public transport, it will not be possible to provide transport facility to all the daily passengers. This will create demand for more buses, which cannot be met.

"Restrictions on public transport will lead to passenger commute by overcrowding in smaller vehicles like cars, maxi cabs, goods tempos etc. which will adversely affect preventive measures," he added.

Therefore, Savadi requested Union Minister to look into the above matter and issue fresh guidelines to all the states / UT's.

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News Network
January 30,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 30: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, who reached the national capital on Thursday, said he will discuss the much-awaited Ministry expansion with the BJP high command.

"It's been long that I visited Delhi. I will meet the party national president J P Nadda and Home Minister Amit Shah and take their suggestions on the cabinet expansion," Yediyurappa told reporters.

The chief minister said he will also call on Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and discuss about development issues related to Karnataka.

Yediyurappa has been anxiously waiting for the high command's nod to expand his ministry amid intense lobbying by the aspirants.

Opposition parties have been critical of the BJP and Yediyurappa over the delay in cabinet expansion, alleging that he was weak and that the administration had collapsed.

As the chief minister has already made it clear that 11 of the disqualified JDS-Congress MLAs who got re-elected in the bypolls on BJP tickets will be made ministers, lobbying has been on in the party for the remaining ministerial berths.

Currently, there are 18 Ministers, including the chief minister in the cabinet that has a sanctioned strength of 34. Sixteen berths are vacant.

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