39 workers return after being stranded in Saudi Arabia for a year
Hyderabad, Jun 17: As many as 39 workers from Telangana,who had been stranded for around a year in Saudi Arabia, have returned here Monday, thanks to the efforts of the Centre and the Telangana government.
According to an official release, these daily wage labourers went to the Gulf nation last year to work in a construction company.
Most of them belonged to Karimnagar, Nirmal, Nizamabad and Adilabad districts.
The company, which hired these labourers, had allegedly not been paying salaries to them for the past six months and they were made to live in "terrible" condition, without proper food.
The labourers wrote to Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) working president K T Rama Rao, over Twitter, seeking his intervention in helping them return to India, it said.
Rama Rao requested the Indian Embassy at Riyadh to help them, the release said.
He had also requested Telangana Chief Secretary SK Joshi to come up with a proper solution to address the problems of the labourers.
The Indian Embassy arranged for temporary exit visas and also flight tickets for the stranded workers, it said.
Rama Rao expressed his happiness over their return.
He also thanked the Indian Embassy and Telangana state NRI Affairs officials for their prompt response, the release added.
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PM Modi to address the nation tonight at 8.30 PM
New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation tonight at 8.30 PM, a day after a bill to implement women's reservation in legislatures was defeated in the Lok Sabha.
"The Prime Minister will address the nation at 8.30 PM (April 18, Saturday)," an official said.
Modi is expected to delve into the issue of implementation of women's quota and the happenings in Parliament, where opposition parties on Friday voted against the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill.
Under the Bill, Lok Sabha seats were to be increased up to 816 from the current 543 to "operationalise" the women's reservation law before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census. Seats were also to be increased in state and UT assemblies to accommodate 33 per cent reservation for women.
A two-thirds majority was required for the passage of the crucial bill but the ruling BJP-led alliance could not muster the numbers.
During polling on the bill in the Lok Sabha on Friday night, 298 members voted in its support, while 230 MPs voted against it.
Out of 528 members who voted, the bill required 352 votes for a two-thirds majority.
