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
January 23,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 23: City civic body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) levied a penalty of Rs 50,000 on the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) for using single-use plastic cups during the recent India-Australia one-day international match at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

"Despite many awareness meetings, BBMP has found that single-use plastic cups were used during yesterday's cricket match and has fined KSCA Rs 50,000 as penalty," tweeted the civic body commissioner BH Anil Kumar.

The state cricket association treasurer Vinaya Mruthyunjaya said the civic body gave a general notice without detailed information on plastic use.

"We have been environmentally friendly for the last many years and at all gates, security has made sure no plastic or flex was allowed inside the stadium," Mruthyunjaya told media.

Mruthyunjaya said KSCA sought information from the civic body as to where the single-use plastic cups were found in the stadium during the India-Australia match.

On January 16, KSCA president Roger Binny inaugurated a plastic bottle shredder at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, in addition to other green initiatives at the cricket ground such as solar panels, sub-air system, biogas unit, rainwater harvesting and others. 

Similarly, in December 2019, BBMP cracked down on popular fast food eatery – Adyar Anand Bhavan in HSR Layout and fined the establishment Rs 1 lakh for plastic use.

In October, the BBMP fined eateries including McDonald's in central Bengaluru for using plastic.

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News Network
June 11,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 11: A love triangle took a violent turn when a final-year engineering student was assaulted by both her current and former lovers. She's now battling for her life in the ICU, police said. 

For the 22-year-old woman, who lives in Sidedahalli, it was a case of fast-changing relationships. She broke up with a fellow student Babith, 21, a few months ago after having dated him for four years. Four months ago, she started seeing another collegemate named Rahul, 22, and everything seemed fine. 

On June 7, she went to Rahul's house, ostensibly for his birthday party, after informing her parents. Babith got wind of it and barged into Rahul's house. The trio got into an argument, and Rahul abused and assaulted her. 

The woman decided to leave him, and went with Babith to his house in Chikkabanavara, North Bengaluru. But things didn't end there. Babith picked an argument with her. Things became so bad that he attacked her with a helmet. 

He then panicked and called her parents, asking them to take her home. When her parents arrived, they found only Babith, his mother and sister in the house. Babith's family directed them to a bedroom where she was lying motionless, with her face being badly wounded. 

When her parents demanded to know what had happened, nobody responded. They took her to a hospital where her condition remains serious. A while later, Babith came to the hospital and gave her parents the key of her scooter. He told them what had happened and allegedly warned them against filing a police complaint. 

Her mother, however, filed a complaint with the jurisdictional Soladevanahalli police. According to her, Babith had fought with her daughter at their house for not taking his phone calls six months ago. 

Shashikumar N, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North), said both the men had been arrested and that further investigations are underway. 

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News Network
March 30,2020

Udupi, Mar 30: Karnataka Home Minister and Udupi district in-charge Basavaraj Bommai has urged citizens to stay indoors and help government prevent spread of Covid-19.

In a video released by the Minister on Monday, he said, ''Three patients have been cured and we are observing their situation. All the primary contacts of these patients have been quarantined.''

''In Dr TMA Pai Hospital a 100-bed COVID hospital has been set up and a 150-bed SDM hospital in Udyavara is ready to use as isolation facilities,'' he added.

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