Ranchi: The return process of 47 workers from Jharkhand, stranded in Cameroon, has been initiated as the first batch of 11 workers returned on Sunday after Chief Minister Hemant Soren took the matter up with concerned authorities. The remaining workers would be repatriated within 10 days.
Joys knew no bounds to the overwhelmed workers when their flight touched down at the Birsa Munda Airport in Ranchi where they were welcomed with garlands by officials of the Labor Department including joint labour commissioner Rajesh Prasad and assistant commissioner Avinash Kumar Krishna. Those who returned include seven from Hazaribag, two from Giridih and two from Bokaro.
The stranded workers released a video in the first week of December seeking help from Indian authorities as it was difficult for them to make both ends meet after not being paid for three months. They narrated their plight in the video which prompted the authorities to initiate the repatriation.
However, Soren has directed the departments to take action against the middlemen who lured the workers with foreign jobs. After the instructions, labour commissioner Sanjeev Kumar has been directed to take necessary action so that no other worker falls prey to the fraud. An FIR has been lodged under the International Migrant Workers Act, 1979 for sending them to Cameroon without registering as migrant labourers and without obtaining the required licences.
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