Published: 28 October 2006
LABOUR abuse cases reported to the Indian Embassy at its open house will no longer be heard behind closed doors, it was revealed yesterday.
Indian Ambassador Balkrishna Shetty had earlier stated that only embassy officials, the complainants and the media would be allowed to witness the proceedings.
He made the comments at the last open house held on October 6, saying the practice would reduce publicising the way in which workers are being harassed by their sponsors.
But yesterday’s session went on as normal at the embassy premises in Adliya and not as a ‘confidential meeting’.
Published: 28 October 2006
LABOUR abuse cases reported to the Indian Embassy at its open house will no longer be heard behind closed doors, it was revealed yesterday.
Indian Ambassador Balkrishna Shetty had earlier stated that only embassy officials, the complainants and the media would be allowed to witness the proceedings.
He made the comments at the last open house held on October 6, saying the practice would reduce publicising the way in which workers are being harassed by their sponsors.
But yesterday’s session went on as normal at the embassy premises in Adliya and not as a ‘confidential meeting’.
Only a handful of cases were presented, instead of almost 20 the last time.
The case of unpaid wages and settlement dues of more than 1,000 Indian workers of a clothing factory was raised again.
The Light Style Garment Factory workers are still waiting for their dues to be paid.
A meeting will be held tomorrow at the embassy to discuss the funds collected for the workers by the Indian Community Relief Fund.
Another repeat case presented at the event was of an ex-manager who had filed a compensation claim case against a company that the embassy blacklisted three months ago.
Varghese Paul and five other ex-employees requested the embassy to issue them a letter confirming their legal residence in Bahrain, saying they were facing frequent threats of arrest due to a runaway case the company filed against them after they left.
Social group Bahrain Prathibha president Subhair Kannur presented a letter that he had received from a woman in Kerala regarding her husband who has been missing for six years but has now been spotted in Bahrain.
The letter states that the man, Unni Balan, also known as Dhananjayan, said he was going to a local market near his home to buy groceries but failed to return.
They had filed a man-missing case in India in January 2000.
But his wife, Mini, recently heard from a resident here that her husband is living in Bahrain.
Meanwhile, K G Varghese alleged that the company where he has worked as a senior engineer and manager since January has not paid his salary, profit share and other benefits that were verbally agreed with the owner.
Mr Varghese, a Bahrain resident of almost 27 years, said that he had been promised a monthly salary of BD1,000, house rent allowance of BD400 and 49 per cent share of net profits.
But the owner refused to sign on an agreement made to prove this and kept putting it off.
Mr Shetty stressed that the embassy would not support any case if residents had broken local laws.
He also repeatedly asked Indians not to enter into any job contracts unless they were authentic.
An arts institute’s ex-violin teacher sought the embassy’s protection from the institute’s principal against whom he has filed a labour case seeking compensation.
The teacher claims the principal threatened his wife who lives in Kerala and has also been trying to prevent him from performing concerts in Bahrain.
He also says he was not given his promised salary of BD300 and was unfairly dismissed from the institute because he rejected the sexual advances of the principal’s wife.
But the principal last night denied threatening the teacher’s wife, although he admitted trying to “warn” concert organisers about allowing the teachers to perform.
He added the teacher was sacked because he was giving private tuitions outside the institute, contrary to his contract, and also encouraged other teachers to do the same.
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