Jharkhand migrants stranded in Lanka safely repatriated, pending salaries cleared of all the workers 

Ranchi, May 6: Active intervention of chief minister Hemant Soren led to all workers from Jharkhand, who were stranded in Sri Lanka with financial distress being safely repatriated on Friday.

This is not the first time that the safe return of stranded workers from various parts of the country and abroad has been made and there have been many such instances when the government has acted promptly to ensure the safety and security of the workers under the direction of sensitive chief minister.

19 workers of Jharkhand stranded in Sri Lanka have returned home. All these 19 workers hail from Giridih, Hazaribagh and Dhanbad districts. On April 2, they sent a message to the Government of India and the Government of Jharkhand through social media requesting for help in order to return to their hometowns.

Taking cognizance of which, the Chief Minister Hemant Soren had requested the Union external affairs minister S. Jaishankar and the Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka for help.

Along with this, the Chief Minister had also directed the State Migrant Control Room and Department of Labour to take necessary actions.

During verification it was revealed that all the workers were working as fitters in Kalpataru Power Transmission Limited in Sri Lanka since 18 February 2022.

Workers stranded in Sri Lanka reported that their passports were confiscated by the contractor. For more than three months, they were not paid their salaries and the contractor had even stopped providing them  with money for food.

The Department of Labour, Employment, Training and Skill Development, Government of Jharkhand, contacted the Indian High Commission and other officials in Sri Lanka to provide assistance to the workers, and the State Migrant Control Room contacted the contractor and the company and asked them to clear the dues of the workers.

The Indian High Commission and officials in Sri Lanka took note of the incident and made sure that the workers were given food and security by the company.

On May 5, 2022, a total  due of Rs 8,68,777 was paid in the account of all the workers by the  contractor and the company. Along with this, air tickets were also made available for everyone to return to the country. On Friday, the stranded workers departed Sri Lanka and arrived at Birsa Munda Airport, Ranchi around 2 pm.

“Our government is working under the leadership of Chief Minister Hemant Soren with sensitivity towards our migrant workers,” said labour minister Satyanand Bhokta, Minister.