KOLLAM: The police on Wednesday took into custody 60 expatriate returnees who were travelling from Kollam to Thiruvananthapuram to stage a protest against their sacking without giving them their end-of-service benefits by NRK businessman and director of Norka-Roots Ravi Pillai’s firm in Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, an official statement from the RP Group of Companies has clarified that the protesters were employees of NSH Corporation, which is fully owned by Saudi citizens, and that Ravi Pillai was just the managing director of the company till 2014.
The workers allege that Ravi Pillai cheated them and fired those who had been working for him for the past 20 years without any benefits after the Covid outbreak. Last week, the workers had protested in front of Ravi Pillai’s residence in Kollam. Following this, the retrenched workers decided to hold a protest outside the Secretariat.
The protesters, who were travelling in a bus hired from Oachira, were stopped by Kollam East police at Chinnakada while on their way to Thiruvananthapuram. “We received information from a few persons, who were taken into custody for protesting in front of Ravi Pillai’s house last week, regarding a group of protestors travelling to the capital to organise a mass protest.
As part of preventive action, we have taken them into custody,” said Shereef S, Inspector of Kollam East station. They were released in the evening. There were reports that NSH Corporation, a Saudi company owned by Ravi Pillai, had laid off thousands of Indian workers, following the Covid outbreak.
Over 500 workers from 12 states have lodged complaints with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and their respective chief ministers, alleging that they were fired without giving them their end-of-service benefits. The statement from RP Group clarified that the protestors are Ravi Pillai’s past employees and they are purposely trying to defame the businessman.
“NSH Corporation is a 100% Saudi-owned company. Pillai was the MD of the company till 2014. Neither the NRK businessman nor the RK Group has any connection with that company. The protesters are just trying to defame his image,” read the statement.
