Patna: As many as 19 Bihari labourers trapped
in strife-torn Libya on Tuesday returned to the state capital here
and were received by the state Labour minister Janardhan Singh
Sigriwal.
Sigriwal and the Labour department officials sent the
labourers by vehicles to their respective homes across the
state.
The Labour minister said that the state government will
make arrangements for rehabilitation of the Bihari labourers
returning from Libya.
On learning from these labourers that about 200 more
Bihari labourers were still trapped in Libya, Sigriwal said
that the state government has decided to approach the External
Affairs ministry to make arrangement to evacuate the remaining
labourers.
The Labour minister also came to know about the plight of
the Bihari labourers during their stay in Libya. The labourers
alleged that they were tortured and underfed by their
employers.
The Labour minister said that he has directed the labour
department officials to explore legal avenues for prosecution
of the agents under relevant provisions of the law for forcing
the Bihari labourers to undergo inhuman treatment at the hands
of their employers in the African country.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, March 01, 2011, 23:44