The Punjab government swung into action on Thursday by setting up a 24-hour control room for relatives of Punjabis stranded in Iraq.
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, accompanied by several families of the missing men, met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. He is camping in Delhi to liaise with the Central government for the safe return of the men. Education Minister Daljeet Singh Cheema, who accompanied the Chief Minister, told The Hindu : “Though the government is doing its best to bring the boys back safely, this is a difficult time for the relatives and their meeting with Ms. Swaraj assured them of the government’s sincerity.”
Deputy Commissioners in all districts have been directed to contact the relatives and assure them of all help.
The Punjab government had appealed to people to publicise the contact numbers of the control room through social media.
The Haryana government has also received information that 16 persons from the State are stranded in Iraq. Most of them are from Yamunanagar and Kurukshetra districts, according to an official spokesman.
Among those who met Ms. Swaraj is Gurpinder Kaur of Bhoewal in Amritsar district, whose brother Manjinder Singh went to Mosul in Iraq 11 months ago to work as a labourer on a construction site. He went along with a group of 40 youths, all were hired for the same destination in Mosul. Manjinder is feared to be among the 41 Indians abducted.
