JAGTIAL: Family members of Gulf returnees along with migrants rights activists on Friday displayed placards demanding the Telangana government sanction compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the kin of those who died of various reasons while working in the Gulf countries. This impromptu protest was staged in Valgonda of Mallapur mandal on Friday at the funeral procession of a Gulf migrant worker Gunti Barnabas (42) who died of a heart attack in Abu Dhabi.
Gulf JAC Guggila Ravi Goud said that along with Rs 5 lakh compensation to the bereaved family, the State government should allocate Rs 500 crore in the State Budget every year and also set up a Gulf Migrant Welfare Board. Pravasi Mitra Labour union president Swadesh Pariki Pandla stated that over the last eight years, about 1,600 migrants from Telangana had died in the Gulf countries. Every year, about 200 Gulf migrants from Telangana die, he said.
The Pravasi Mitra labour union initiated steps to bring back the body of Barnabas from Abu Dhabi. Gajji Shankar, a colleague of Barnabas, accompanied the body. The State government provided free ambulance service from Hyderabad airport to Valgonda. Some of the families who are not in a position to bring back the bodies prefer the funeral is performed in the Gulf countries, district Sarpanches Forum president Singireddy Naresh Reddy said.