Job layoffs in Oman leave Indians in lurch

Hyderabad: As many as 900 Indian workers, about 100 from the Telugu states, working for Petron Gulf LLC in Sohar in Oman are stranded after the company stopped paying its employees four months back. The workers are now dependent on the charity of their friends, waiting for some solution to their predicament.

As global oil prices started falling in the middle of 2014, Gulf countries began adopting austerity measures. The first victims were blue-collar migrant workers, who were left in the lurch without payment, food and proper shelter. Petron Gulf LLC Company is one such company.

Tork permits of the workers have expired, as the organisation failed to renew them for the workers on time.

Amongst the stranded, there are around 30 workers from Jagtial, Nizamabad and Karimnagar district of Telangana state, and the others are from West Godavari, East Godavari and Kadapa districts of AP.

Telangana Gulf Workers Association president Nangi Devender Reddy said that while there are measures being taken to repatriate the stranded workers, the Centre through the Indian embassy in Oman should take up the issue legally and ensure that the Indian workers get their dues.

He said the Indian embassy in Oman had reached out to the stranded workers and was supplying them with food.

The embassy said that it is working with the Oman ministry of power to resolve the issue as soon as possible.

“The embassy is in daily contact with the workers. The embassy’s officer is at the site and all feasible solutions are being explored,” read a statement released by the embassy.

Embassy asked workers to move labour court

Mr Uppalapati Ramesh from Jagtial district has been working with Petron Gulf LLC for eight years and was paid well till the last couple of years when salaries started getting delayed.

He is currently in Hyderabad on vacation and is wondering if he should return as scheduled for next month.

Mr Ramesh, who was a farmer before joining the Oman company, said, “My gratuity amount, service and leave benefits are also pending. I came on vacation in June without a penny in my hand. I am not confident of going back. I do not want to suffer there. I heard the embassy is taking some measures but I have not yet decided on going back.”

On an average the company has to pay around '5 lakh to each worker in the form of gratuity, leave and service benefits. The TS wing of the Indian Social Club is assisting them with food and other amenities.

Mr Balapalli Linga-reddy, also from Jagtial district who is in Oman now, said over phone that the Indian embassy had asked the workers to approach the labour court and has promised to arrange a return ticket with a no-objection certificate with five Omani Riyals for expenses.

“The condition is very bad here. We had to depend on only rice for days till the embassy intervened,” he said. We are now living in the fear of being thrown out of our houses as we have not paid rent,” he added.