Poorly struck by unemployment in Saudi city of Jeddah, as many as 10,000 Indian workers are starving for the last three days. Stepping up to provide them help, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has intervened into the matter.
Along with directing the Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia to serve food to the unemployed Indians, she is also monitoring the situation on an hourly basis.
Apart from this, Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh is travelling to the Gulf nation to sort out the issue.
Responding to a tweet by a man who said around 800 Indians are starving for the last three days in Jeddah and sought her intervention, she tweeted:
Ms Swaraj said Indians in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait were facing various problems relating to their work and wage and that the "matters are much worse" in Saudi Arabia.
She said MoS External Affairs MJ Akbar will take up the issue with Kuwait and Saudi authorities.
"I assure you that no Indian worker rendered unemployed in Saudi Arabia will go without food. I am monitoring this on hourly basis," she said.
Ms Swaraj said a large number of Indians have lost their jobs in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and that their employers have not paid wages and closed down their factories.
"As a result our brothers and sisters in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are facing extreme hardship," she said, adding while the situation in Kuwait is "manageable", matters are much "worse" in Saudi Arabia.
(With PTI inputs)
