New Delhi: The government will extend all help to an Indian man working in Saudi Arabia without being paid his salary for the last 28 months, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Tuesday.
The minister’s comments came after she came to know of a video in which Kumar Akash, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, narrates his harrowing plight from somewhere near Makkah in the Gulf nation.
In the video, Akash says he had gone to Saudi Arabia to work as a mechanic after getting his visa from Mumbai through a recruiting agent in Byculla.
However, instead of getting a job as a mechanic, he was taken to a brick kiln where he was made to load bricks on to trucks. Adding to that, his employer has not paid him his salary for the last 28 months.
He said whenever he asked his employer to send him back to India, he was told he would not be allowed to and he would have to stay in Saudi Arabia and work without pay.
In the video, Akash seeks the help of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sushma Swaraj, who is also the minister for overseas Indian affairs.
Following this, Sushma Swaraj said all help would be extended to Akash.
“Akash, Maine ye video dekh liya hai. Tumari poori madad ki jayegi. Maine Saudi Arab men apni Embassy ko bol diya hai (Akash, I have seen your video. All help will be extended to you. I have informed our embassy in Saudi Arabia about this),” she tweeted.
