Saudi labour ministry official meets Indian envoy in Jeddah

The Indian Consulate in Jeddah, with the assistance of the diaspora, has provided rations to the workers which should be sufficient for the next 8-10 days, they said.

Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali today sought External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s intervention in the return of workers, from the state, stranded in Saudi Arabia after losing jobs. “Many of them have their passports seized and forced to live in inhuman conditions”, Anwar alleged.

“They’ve conveyed that they’re willing to even carry those Indians on Saudi Arabian airlines back to India”.

Earlier on Wednesday, Haq had said that the Pakistan Embassy had provided basic amenities including food to countrymen stuck there.

Saudi Oger workers can not leave the country as the Labour Ministry has stopped the employer’s services, including social security insurance and access to the Passport Department’s portal, the report added.

As prices plummeted from more than $100 a barrel in 2014 to below $30, the Saudi government cut spending and delayed payments to contractors, who have relied on public contracts for business growth. In April, the government announced an ambitious plan to break its dependence on oil but that won’t happen for years.

The newspaper said Saad al-Hariri was negotiating to keep a stake in the company, proposing to keep 40 percent in exchange for giving up some shares in a bank.

Workers at one camp told CNNMoney that their Oger bosses stopped coming to work about seven months ago and they’ve heard nothing from the company since. The workers get water from the mosque across the street. Police are stationed outside after protests erupted in recent weeks.

He said that diplomatic efforts were under way to make the Saudi Government pressurise these companies to pay dues and arrears to the stranded Pakistanis.

Official sources said approximately 10,000 Indian workers have been affected by the economic slowdown in the Gulf and the situation was “fluid and dynamic”.

He said the Saudi government is very cooperative in helping the workers facing legal wranglings.

Oger representatives were not available for comment. “Things are not as bad as have been projected in the media”, he said, adding: “We are in close contact with various departments in the Kingdom”.

Falling oil revenue has also put pressure on the country’s biggest businesses.

Al-Haqabani was quoted as saying that Article 81 of the Labor Law allows the worker to leave his workplace without notice if the employer fails to honor the contract or pay the salary.