Bhatkal activists help eight stranded Indians fly back to India after months of struggle
One of the stranded workers belonged to UP CM's Gorakhpur constituency
Dubai, UAE: Community volunteers from Bhatkal have grabbed headlines in UAE after they reached out to eight Indian workers stranded in the UAE for several months to repatriate them to India.
The community volunteers Shirali Muzaffer Shaikh, Afzal SM, Sarfaraz Jukaku, and Hidayath Addoor swung into action when a Khaleej Times reported the plight of the stranded workers on June 16. They collaborated with the Consulate General of India Dubai and arranged for a swift repatriation of the workers.
Muzaffer Shaikh is from the AIM India Forum, a platform that supports stranded Indian nationals. Hidayath Adoor is convenor of the International Kannadiga’s Federation.
Khaleej Times had reported the workers were spotted on a street in Sharjah seeking food, shelter, and assistance. According to the Khaleej Times report, the workers who hailed from the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh were duped by an agent who charged them Dh 5,000 promising them jobs in the UAE. One of the stranded workers belonged to UP CM's Gorakhpur constituency.
The stranded workers have been identified as Vijaee N (Parsav, Uttar Pradesh), Ramagya Saini (Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh), Pramod Kumar (Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh), Mohammed Naseem (Bihar), Adya Prasad ( Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh) Sree Chandra (Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh), Raijullah Devan (Bihar), Pradeep Gupta (Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh)
When the workers reached UAE in March, they were left out in the cold, unable to look for new jobs or even return to India as their passports were not with them.
The volunteers reported the issue to the police with the help of authorities at the CGI and arranged the necessary travel documents, immigration clearance, and PCR tests. The ticket fares for the workers were arranged by the Indian consulate.
Hidayath Adoor arranged for the food and shelter for the workers for two months while Muzaffer, Afzal, and Sarfaraz helped them get their white passports.
CGI arranged their travel on July 2 to New Delhi from where they will be taken to their natives.
The workers breathe a sigh of relief when they finally boarded a flight to India on July 2 and expressed their gratitude to the Indian embassy and the social workers who also accompanied them to the airport.
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Pakistan reports two more polio cases. Total tally now 52
ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.
“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.
The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.
Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.
