Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — A group of Indian cleaning workers claimed that they were dumped in a remote area in the middle of desert by their employer apparently in an attempt to prevent them from attending a labor court hearing. The 29 workers were part of a leading maintenance and cleaning company in the Eastern Province, which was contracted by the Education Ministry to clean schools in the province. The workers, hailing from the south Indian states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana, received a basic monthly salary of 400 and SR250 as food allowance. They completed their two-year contract term and wanted to return home. The workers lived and worked in Al-Ahsa in the Eastern Province, but were dropped in Safaniya, about 200 kilometers away, more than three weeks ago after they lodged a complaint with the Labor Office, the workers told Saudi Gazette. Since then they have been living in a congested accommodation without any food or drinking water. They said there was no water even in the toilets. The workers hailed the prompt response by Indian Embassy officials and also Saudi Labor Ministry after learning about their plight. The authorities swung into action to provide relief. Labor Ministry officials along with P.V. Abdul Jalil, a community volunteer and representative of Indian Embassy, visited the accommodation on Wednesday to assess the condition of the workers. "We have been cheated time and again. First it was in India and now here in the Kingdom. They told us to pack our luggage to fly to India, so we did the packing and boarded a bus for King Fahd International Airport in Dammam. Instead of taking us to the airport, they dumped us almost in the middle of desert," Aqeelan Nagarajan from Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu told Saudi Gazette. He alleged that it was a ploy by their employer to prevent them from attending the labor court hearing in Al-Ahsa. He said the workers could not travel to Al-Ahsa on their own because they would not be allowed to cross the checkpoints without their residency permits, which were withheld by their employer. The Indian Embassy dispatched adequate food provisions to the aggrieved workers through Abdul Jalil, the volunteer. Labor Ministry officials also send them food.
