The Plight of Indian Workers in Gulf

http://o3.indiatimes.com/NR_EYE

Blazing sun right on the top. Temperature souring at 50 degrees. There are green patches. There are well planted & maintained trees. There are public parks. There flower beds. There are fountains. But that doesn’t help to control the open furnace. Its Gulf. Its mid-east place on the earth. To make all the utilities work, to build , to maintain and everything there is a man in orange. This is a tribute to that Man in Orange.

With a little backdrop - These mid east countries are blessed with oil & petrol resources. The only resource that has changed their fortunes, also known as black gold. What else ? They don’t have enough population of their own to turn the wheel. Neither they have natural vegetation, no water resources. They realized the shortfall and called for skilled, unskilled labourers mainly from asian countries. “Goras” came to lend their “expertise” in oil wells. Asians came for all kinds of jobs. It was the exchange rate , approximately 3 to 5 times of salary that wooed the Asians, who flocked in mainly from India, Pakistan, Srilanka, Nepla, Bangladesh. The glamour soon picked up due to which lots of people got attracted to gulf employment. The fact is that every single road, house, every private and public utility, park, shop and what not is built by an expat. It has to be seen to be believed. March to October you have to face scorching summer. Rest of the months you can just withstand; yet because of peculiar position on the earth, throughout the year these countries get sun on top of the head.

Coming back to the Man in Orange. Who is he ? He is a poor person hailing from some cornered village of Andhra or Kerala or perhaps from Punjab province of Pakistan. He is wooed by a job agent back in his own country and he coughs out a whopping sum of anywhere above Rs. 1 lakh to get a “decent” job in mid east. All he is promised is airconditioned accommodation, atleast Rs. 10,000 salary, free food, free passage back home, conveyance facilities to work place ! No wonder, the man jumps out of his seat and mortgage his personal belongings or farm or house and borrows that amount. He pays that amount and accepts the employment. Barely educated man doesn’t understand consequences of the contract, doesn’t recognize importance of terms mentioned in letter. With heavy heart he bid off his small kids, old aged parents and his better half who will be keep her eyes full of hope that her man will return with hefty amount.


The man boards flight, his first air journey and that to overseas. The employer takes him in a mini bus to the accommodation facilities. The next day morning he gets up @ 4.30 to 5.00 am. To get ready to go for work, he is given a tiffin which is prepared sometime in midnight at around 3 to 4 am. That is because like him there many other staying in the accommodation, like 2000 workers. He puts up his uniform – the fluorescent orange colour , which can be identified even in the dark. Picks up his tiffin and boards a mini truck. Thus is the start of Man in Orange. Bunch of Men in Orange travel in these vehicles and are dropped at certain points in the city where they start their work. The job is to pick the trash, dust and waste on the road. He carries a garbage carrying bag, a broom and walks all the along the road through out the day. Sun doesn’t care about anyone. Sun gets harsh since 5 in the morning till 7. Even after sunset in the midnight also you can feel the presence of humidity and blazing heat. The man in orange is assigned duty of picking up each and every chit of paper, waste that is lying on the road. If he notice even a single piece in mid of the road, he has to wait to get enough time of 30 seconds so he can rush there and cross over safely. This he manages within blink of eyelid, since vehicles race at anywhere 100-120 KM/ PH. 12 Hours a day. With no weekly off. One off a month. No annual passage. Salary withheld for 2 months. Salary being paid at just about Rs 6000/- a month (far below being promised). The gruesome facts come to light, but by that time its too late when this man in orange can do anything. He has already fallen into trap and now he has to wait to recover his borrowed money and then start savings. Thus he cannot afford to go back since he is not given airfare too.


Much more facts exist in mid east especially with these people who have helped to build the mid east region. They are men in orange. Believe me, forty years back when these people (Gulf) realized the natural resources, they had nothing. Now whatever they are that is because of the hard toiling expatriates. Gulf minus expatriates is back to square one. Beneath the glitter and glamour of mid east world lies a painful truth about these men in orange. This is a humble tribute to them and all other hands that made the desert turn in different land.