"No Money For Food": 48 Indian Workers Stranded In Tunisia Seek Centre's Help

Forty-eight migrant workers from Jharkhand, who are stranded in the African country of Tunisia, have appealed to the Indian government to facilitate their return to India.

In a video appeal, the workers highlighted that from the day that they were offered the employment, the dealing with the concerned company seemed dubious. "We were told that we are being employed by a company and that we will get our agreement papers on reaching the work location. On reaching, we found out that this was contract work and there are no agreement papers," a worker said in the video.

The worker alleged that Gurugram-based Prem Power Construction Private Limited had told workers that they will have to work for eight hours daily but are being made to work for around 12 hours every day. "On asking for payment, we are being threatened that we will be jailed and won't be able to return to India," the worker said in a video, which also had the other workers hailing from the Giridih, Hazaribagh and Bokaro districts.

Further, the workers alleged that they have not been paid for four months and are left with no money to be able to afford food.

Social activist Sikandar Ali urged the state and central governments to take concrete diplomatic steps to ensure the safe return of the workers.

Meanwhile, Bagodar MLA Nagendra Mahato said he will write a letter to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar regarding this matter, demanding that the stranded workers be released safely and their wages be paid. He also demanded that the workers be provided security.

The 19 workers from Hazaribagh district have been identified as Amardeep Chaudhary, Jivadhan Mahato, Dhaneshwar Mahato, Jageshwar Kumar Mahato, Govind Kumar Mahato, Khirodhar Mahato, Nagendra Kumar Mahato, Kailash Mahato, Neelkanth Mahato, Anantlal Mahato, Khushlal Mahato, Jagatpal Mahato, Mukesh Kumar, Mantu Mahato, Gangadhar Mahato, Mukesh Kumar, Dinesh Turi, Devendra Thakur and Shankar Ghanshy.

Fourteen workers from Giridih include Nandlal Mahato, Santosh Mahato, Gurucharan Mahato, Manoj Kumar Mandal, Khublal Mahato, Ashok Kumar, Jhandu Mahato, Sewa Mahato, Murali Mandal, Sukhdev Singh, Sanjay Kumar from Dumri, Sanjay Kumar Mahato, Sunil Tudu and Mirulal Hasda.

The workers hailing from Bokaro district include Ajay Kumar, Anil Kumar, Gopal Mahato, Rajesh Karmali, Lalu Karmali, Jagannath Mahato, Rooplal Mahato, Deepak Singh, Karu Singh, Jagannath Mahato, Birsahi Turi, Subodh Marandi, Manoj Kumar Ravidas, Khedan Singh and Sukhdev Mahato.