Nizamabad: Lakhs of people migrating to Gulf countries for a meagre salary of Rs 10,000 to Rs 25,000 are often having tragic ends due to the high cost of living in these Gulf countries and many more other disturbing reasons.
Recent statistics revealed, as many as 28,523 Indians are reported dead in six Gulf countries over the past four years with Telangana being among the top five states where deaths due to suicide, work accidents, road traffic accidents, cardiac arrests are few to name for the cause of these deaths.
A 24-year-old tribal farmer Ganesh Badhavath hailing from Kottakortula Tanda in Nizamabad district’s Nallavelli region committed suicide by hanging himself in Bahrain on January 13, just 20 days after his legal migration on a work visa.
His pregnant wife and a two-year-old daughter are left behind with loads of debts mounted on the family due to failed borewells, loan taken to obtain a visa.
Ganesh’s father Devi Singh speaking to TOI, said: “All the four borewells dug in the one acre of land owned by Ganesh failed. He could not pay his debt of Rs 3 lakh. Ganesh had paid Rs 60,000 to an agent and got a visa in December 2018. He left for Bahrain on December 18 after being recruited by a Tamil Nadu-based agency and started working in Almoran as a cleaner for Rs 18,000 salary per month. He was able to get a visa as he had been there earlier, and had returned. We didn’t get Rythu Bandhu for the land, and Ganesh was not eligible for Rythu Bima as the land is an assigned land according to government officials.”
According to statistics, lakhs of people moving to Gulf countries for jobs mostly hail from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Punjab, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
While wide deaths are reported from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Family issues, debts, cheating by agents, gulf countries harsh conditions are the few reasons behind people taking these extreme steps.
The recent 2017 statistics revealed as many as 22.53 lakh workers are living in the Gulf.
Telangana NRI wing official, E Chitti Babu, speaking to TOI, said: “Since July 2014, we have officially helped to get around 518 bodies, where we offer free ambulance service to shift the bodies from the airport to their hometown for Below Poverty Line families. Unofficially, another 100 bodies may have arrived. Of these cases, around 30 are suicides. Most deaths are attributed to heart attacks due to harsh weather conditions, lack of proper food and sleep. In some cases, where a person injured in road accident gets admitted to hospital and dies, the hospital authorities declare it as cardiac arrest. This is done to avoid the payment of compensation of Rs 15 lakh, for which the worker is eligible.”