Even when Indian authorities are repeatedly saying that the Government would provide all help to those who could lose jobs due to the current Saudization programme, Nitaqat, in Saudi Arabia, Indians returning from the Arab kingdom are complaining about Indian officials’ apathy towards the issue.

“Many have already been taken into custody in Saudi cities. But Indian Embassy there has not done anything to help them so far,” said Ganesan, a native of Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu who reached Thiruvan

anthapuram airport from Saudi Arabia on Saturday after losing his job there due to Nitaqat.

The Saudization programme in the Saudi labour sector makes it imperative for all firms to ensure that at least 10 per cent of their employees are Saudi nationals. Holders of free visa are not allowed to work and outsiders cannot run businesses under licences organised in the names of nationals. The time given to firms for complying with Nitaqat had ended last Wednesday.

The new Saudi move might push out about lakhs of expatriates and the number of Indians leaving the kingdom could be huge. Kerala is going to be a huge victim as over 1.5 lakh Malayalees are expected to lose jobs and return. Hundreds of Malayalees have already reached Kerala from Saudi Arabia.

On Saturday, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said there was no need to panic and that efforts would be made to resolve the issue by keeping the country’s good relations with Saudi Arabia intact. Hoping that the interests of the Keralites in Saudi Arabia could be protected, he said that the Indian Embassy would intervene in the issue.

But those returning from Saudi Arabia are not so confident. “The Indian Embassy or the Indian Government had not intervened in any manner for helping those who had already been taken into custody there,” said a returnee at the Thiruvananthapuram airport, adding that the only way to ensure one’s safe return home was to bribe the officials.

Reports reaching from Saudi cities on Saturday said that the Jawazat Police (passport cops) and Internal Security officials had stepped up searches for expatriates who did not satisfy the conditions of the new programme. “People are forced to stay in their rooms fearing arrest the moment they step out,” said Ganesan.

Outfits working for the welfare of Gulf-based NRIs say that the situation is as serious as the one India had confronted during Gulf War I. Over 200,000 Keralites had returned home during 1990-91 following Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, causing a huge economic problem for the State. A similar situation is unfolding presently with respect to Saudi Arabia, they point out.

Unconfirmed reports said that the deportation centre in Dammam, eastern Saudi Arabia, had already been overcrowded and over 1,000 persons had been stranded in the Indian cell which could hold only 250. People were eating and sleeping in the toilets because of overcrowding these reports said, adding that they could not get out as they could not get outpasses.

“Despite the promises, no help is forthcoming from the Indian Embassy. Outpasses can be organised only if you can pay amounts as big as 3,000 to 5,000 riyals which none of the workers can afford to pay,” a returnee said.

like Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi had done two days back, Chief Minister Chandy admitted on Saturday that the Government had no idea about the number of people going to be affected by the Saudi move. “We are getting information only when people get in touch with us,” he said.