BHUBANESWAR: Forty Odia workers, who had migrated to Maldives for employment, have urged the state government to rescue them.
The workers, including 15 from Khallikote in Ganjam, have alleged that they have been denied their salaries for the last two months and are facing harassment at the hands of their employer.
In a video message on Monday, they informed that an agent Kishore Barik of Pratap village in Banpur had taken them to Maldives five months back with an assurance to engage them in a company with good salary, food and accommodation facilities. The agent allegedly collected Rs 40,000 from each of the workers before taking them to Maldives where they were engaged in a construction company called Renaatus.
Each of the workers, depending on his skills, was assured a salary of Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 per month. The workers said that they have so far received a full salary of only the first month and in the next two months, only half the salary was paid to them.
Meanwhile, the officials of Protector of Emigrants (PoE) under Ministry of External Affairs responded to the video and said their Bhubaneswar office is in constant touch with the Labour and ESI departments, government of Odisha, and the authorities concerned in Maldives. Efforts are being made to bring all the workers back to their native places at the earliest, they said.
“Simultaneously, we appeal to people not to fall prey to lucrative job offers in foreign countries,” the PoE wrote on X.