A day after The Deccan Era reported the deaths of Indian migrant workers in Qatar working on projects or in jobs related to the Football World Cup, the Center and the Telangana government stepped in to assure their families of help.
Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan on Friday said he had asked the Indian embassy in Doha to help the bereaved families get compensation from Qatari employers. Telangana Home Minister Mohd Mahmood Ali, where many of these families live, said the state is looking at the report to decide on a compensation package, if applicable, for any family member, including a government job.
“I have spoken to the Indian Ambassador in Doha. The embassy will provide all necessary assistance for the families… The embassy will assist the families in approaching the employers for compensation,” Muraleedharan told The Deccan Era.
The MoS said that they had made telephone calls in this regard. Sources said the ministry would decide on further steps after receiving feedback from employers in Qatar.
Telangana Home Minister told The Deccan Era that an official meeting would be held on the issue. “We will give a government job to a family member. We are also considering financial help for the families after studying the situation. Thousands of workers are at bay, and we will consider all this and decide on a package,” Ali said.
Telangana Labor, Employment and Factories Minister C Malla Reddy said his department was also investigating reports of “deaths of Telangana workers in Qatar”.
On Thursday, The Deccan Era reported that families of workers from Punjab, Bihar and Telangana had been left in limbo with a common complaint: no compensation from employers of workers who died there.
The newspaper tracked these families over eight months by checking official records, interviewing job agents, migrant welfare workers and local officials across the country, and filing RTI applications. It also spoke to nine of these families; six met at their homes across Telangana.
Responding to questions from The Indian Express, the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Heritage, the Qatari organization in charge of delivering the World Cup, admitted that 40 migrant workers from around the world lost their lives in Qatar after the country was awarded. World Cup in 2010 – and classified three as work-related.
The committee claimed there had been “significant improvement” in the welfare of workers for the World Cup starting on 20 November but added that there was “room for improvement”.
“We recognize that there is a long journey ahead, and we are committed – along with our partners in Qatar and beyond – to ensure that we continue to deliver on the legacy we were promised. Makes life better and lays the foundation for fair, sustainable and sustainable labour reforms,” it said.
On Friday, Telangana minister Ali said that the state’s chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao “has asked us to identify the victims and trace their families and offer support and help”.
