New Delhi: Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh will on Tuesday visit Saudi Arabia to start the process of bringing back 10,000 Indian workers rendered jobless in the Gulf.


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Writing on Twitter, Singh on Monday night said that “Indian citizens anywhere in the world are our priority”.



On Monday, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj told the Lok Sabha that she is personally monitoring the situation on hourly basis and that food is being provided to the Indians at five camps set up by the Indian mission there.


The economic slowdown in the Gulf Cooperation Council region following the fall in global crude oil prices has affected over 10,000 Indians, mostly working in the construction sector with factories shut down and workers laid off.


 


"The situation is a fluid and dynamic one," sources here said on Monday.


"A total of approximately 10,000 Indian workers have been affected by the economic slowdown in the Gulf. The impact, however, varies from company to company," they said.


The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region comprises Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).


 


According to sources, 3,172 Indian workers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, have not been paid their salaries for several months but were getting regular rations.


Indian workers, numbering 2,450, belonging to Saudi Oger, a major Saudi construction company based in Jeddah, are housed in five camps in Jeddah, Mecca and Taif.


Sushma Swaraj instructed the Indian embassy in Riyadh and the consulate in Jeddah to urgently provide food assistance to them.


The consulate, along with Indian community members, provided 15,475 kg of foodstuff besides cooking ingredients and 1,850 readymade food packets to these workers on Saturday.


(With IANS inputs)