Indian minister responds to a desperate expat tweet

Dubai - He has been languishing in his labour accommodation without electricity, food and basic necessities for around six months.

A 32-year-old Indian expat from Kerala, who landed in Dubai last year as a sales associate, has been languishing in his labour accommodation without electricity, food and basic necessities for around six months now. His desperate pleas for help were finally heard by an Indian minister on Twitter.
While V Muraleedharan, Minister of State for External Affairs, tweeted asking the Indian mission in Riyadh to check on another case, Indian worker Rajesh Puthenveettil replied to that tweet, seeking the minister's intervention in helping him out of his precarious situation. Taking notice of the reply, the minister tagged the Indian missions in the UAE to provide necessary assistance to him.
In a few hours after his tweet, Rajesh received a call from the Consulate-General of India in Dubai that informed him that the minister had apprised them about his situation and asked them to resolve the issue. Rajesh joined a supermarket chain in Dubai in 2018 but his trouble began in just a few months. "The company that hired me sold the supermarket chain to another businessman. This is when the salaries of many employees of all the three branches of the supermarket stopped coming, including me. The new owner simply said he could not afford to give us our pending salaries."
After waiting for several months, Rajesh along with a few others filed a complaint with the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation. The judgement came in his favour where his employer was asked to pay around Dh14,000. "This money is crucial for me as I am building a house for my family in Kerala and I haven't sent money for some months now, which has interrupted the completion of the house that is now in its last leg. My family is waiting for me but when I have no money to even get food or other basic necessities, how do I buy a ticket to go back," he told Khaleej Times.
The employer has not yet cleared Rajesh's dues and is not responding despite the judgement, which is why many of his friends have just cancelled their visas and left. However, some others are still waiting to get their dues cleared. "For six months, I have been surviving at the company's accommodation without electricity. Some good Samaritans give me food but I cannot sustain like this for long and I want to just go back home. Thankfully, the Indian consulate has taken charge of the situation after the minister tagged my request and asked the consulate and embassy to look into my case."
Speaking on behalf of the Indian consulate, social worker Praveen Kumar, who is part of the medical committee at the consulate, confirmed that the consulate swung into action as soon as the minister directed them to look into the case.
" We arranged a meeting with Rajesh and documented his case. He has requested us to send him back home at the earliest and we are arranging his air ticket, which should be ready in three or four days."
- saman@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai