Following the DNA report highlighting the miseries of 1,200 Indian workers stranded in Sumbe cement plant in Angola, the issue was raised in Lok Sabha.
Following the DNA report highlighting the miseries of 1,200 Indian workers stranded in Sumbe cement plant in Angola, the issue was raised in Lok Sabha on Monday. Member of Parliament from Ahmedabad (East) constituency and former minister of state for defence, Harin Pathak raised the matter during ‘Zero Hour’.
He said that all 1,200 workers (including 40 from Gujarat) in Angola are in trouble and their company has taken their passport in its custody. The union government should ensure that they are safe, their outstanding payments are cleared and finally that they are brought back home.
Talking to DNA, Harin Pathak said, “When I raised the issue in Lok Sabha, speaker put this to the leader of the house, Pranab Mukherjee. The finance minister has taken note of it,” Pathak said.
Sources at the Centre said that government is seriously looking in to the issue and will do the needful. It has also come to light that Indian workers in Sumbe cement plant were sent on a visitor visa by the recruitment company. Sources in the ministry of external affairs (MEA) indicated that most of the workers, who are claiming that their passports are with the company, were brought to Angola on the visitor visa and not on work visa. So, at present the stranded workers were ‘technically’ working illegally in the African country.
Recounting the horror of being hidden in a forest in the African nation, Nitish Kumar, a stranded labourer in Africa from Kateya village of Gopalgunj district in Bihar said, "Company is not returning our passports. It says that all passports are pending with the Angolan government for visa process. We are living in this country without any official document with us to prove our identity. We have sent several emails to the Indian embassy here but have not received any reply so far." He added, "We are living in hell like condition here. As many as 200 workers have been arrested from the camp site. Our arrested colleagues have been kept in the batches of 60 people in small room for last three-four days. They have not been given enough food, water and hygiene facilities. As a result, nearly 10-15 workers in each batch have fallen ill. We are worried that infection will spread among others too." Indian embassy in Angola said that officials have been asked to visit the camp site on Tuesday. SK Varun, second secretary at the embassy said, "We have been briefed by our ambassador about the situation. I will be visiting the cement plant site on Tuesday. It is our duty to do our best to help workers.
But I can't comment further on the issue as the plant is 300 kilometers away from Luanda, capital of Angola." Sources in the MEA indicated that labourers are tricked into such job offers by the manpower recruitment companies. "We have come to know that most of the workers at Sumbe cement plant were taken there on visitor visa. Workers are not well informed about what type of visa they are having, because all the visa procedures are done by the manpower agencies. It is observed that once these workers are taken to Angola on visitors' visa, the company applies for their work visa, which takes very long time, sometimes from 6 months to 10 months. It is also not legal to work in any country without having work visa. So technically they are working unofficially in Angola."
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