Apart from wooing investors to the state, IT & Panchayat Raj minister KT Rama Rao also embarked on a very important task during his 3 day trip to Dubai.
KTR visited the Sonapur camp where about 20,000 migrant workers from Telangana live. The Minister saw their living facilities, kitchen, dining hall, and bathrooms. He then conducted detailed interaction with them about their problems. Many workers face a number of problems that start from when they are in India itself, and continue after their arrival in Dubai and during their employment. They get exploited by agents first and then by some of the employers. They face very difficult living conditions. Non-payment of minimum wages is another common issue.
The Minister discussed the possibility of organising skills training for workers planning to work overseas, registration of workers, regulation of agents, preparing literature on rights for workers’ awareness, deploying Telugu speaking staff in Indian Consulate, legal assistance, designing an insurance scheme for migrant workers, assistance in relocating willing workers back to Telangana by identifying suitable local jobs, and so on. The Minister assured the workers that the government will soon bring out a detailed policy which will help the migrant workers overcome these problems.
Earlier in the day, the Minister visited the Dubai Central Jail in Awair where a few persons from Telangana are serving prison sentences. The Minister has been making an effort to secure their release for the last 2 years. For 5 of them, the efforts made are bearing fruition and they are likely to get released shortly. The Minister also learnt about the cases of some other detenues and assured them of help from the Indian Consulate to get their matters attended to on a priority basis.