Sufferings of Gulf migrant labourers have worsened after formation of Telangana due to the callousness of and lopsided priorities of the TRS Government, said Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) Chief Spokesperson, Sravan Dasoju. He said it was time the Government brought a comprehensive migrant labour and NRI welfare act.
Addressing a press conference here, he reminded the Government that Gulf labourers’ welfare was one of the primary agendas harped on during Telangana movement, but the TRS forgot about it after attaining power. The party in its manifesto for 2014 elections, had promised to set up separate fund of ₹ 500 crore, but failed.
Vexed with pathetic working conditions in the Gulf, many want to return to India forever, but there is no resettlement and rehabilitation programme so far, he pointed out adding that many of the migrants had committed suicide due to financial crisis.
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Quoting a survey by an NGO, he said more than 200 blue-collared workers from Telangana die due to ill health and accidents in the Gulf countries every year. The State Government had not extended any ex-gratia to the families of the deceased persons, he observed.
In the last four years, TRS MPs, Ministers and MLAs made ‘show-off’ visits to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations to participate in various festivals such as Bathukamma, Dasara etc. organised by poor migrant labourers, but totally failed to fulfil the promises made to them.
As per Ministry of External Affairs, there are more than 10 lakhs to 12 lakhs of workforce from Telangana in Gulf Cooperation Council Countries and through them about ₹1,500 crore of foreign exchange gets remitted to Telangana every month, he claimed.
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Mr. Sravan wrote a letter to Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao raising 15 major demands and these include enacting an NRI & Gulf Workforce Welfare Act, separate department with an exclusive budget of ₹1,000 crore to address the issues.