Khanapur (Telangana): Nearly 350 Gulf workers from Telangana working as maids and construction workers in Qatar are in trouble as they have been rendered jobless and asked to return home.
These men were recruited by a Qatar-based firm ahead of the FIFA World Cup-2022. Now, that the tournament was over the companies informed them that there was no work for them in Qatar. They were told that they would not need to come to work from December 31 and were asked to vacate their rooms. Also, the company had arranged flight tickets for the workers on January 10.
This has left around 350 workers from Gandhinagar and Khanapur in Telangana's Nizamabad and Nirmal districts in turmoil. The workers complained that despite visas being granted to them for two years, the company asked them to leave after working for a year.
Notably, the runup to the World Cup had created job opportunities in Qatar following which, these workers were issued two-year work permits. Agents had collected around Rs1.50 lakh from each on the pretext of arranging visas. After recruitment, they were engaged in construction work pertaining to stadiums and new roads.
Now that the company has asked them to leave, the workers don't know as to how they would repay the debt they incurred for travelling to Qatar. They have urged state government to help them to get jobs.
Srinivas, who hails from Kodichers in Nizamabad district, said, "How can they drive us away on such a short notice? The state government should help us. They can intervene to let the company allow us work here or arrange some other job for us."
"The company has asked us to leave without even listening to our problems. How can we survive if we are suddenly turned jobless?" asked Laxman from Kondapur in Nirmal district.
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