On the instructions of Chief Minister Hemant Soren and the prompt initiative of the Department of Labour, Employment, Training and Skill Development, 27 workers of Jharkhand working in Vinayak Construction, Face Gendarmerie, Apress Auditorium and Jean Paul to Mabanklo Company in Yaounde, Cameroon, South Africa, returned home safely this morning.

Minister Satyanand Bhokta, Minister Baidyanath Ram, Minister Baby Devi, MLA Kalpana Soren and MLA Sudivya Kumar Sonu welcomed the workers on their arrival in Giridih today. They talked to the workers and got to know their entire plight. The CM also communicated with the workers through mobile and assured them of all possible support and help from the state government. The workers expressed their gratitude to the Chief Minister for the initiative taken by the state government to return to their home in Jharkhand from South Africa under difficult circumstances.

Among the 27 workers stranded in South Africa, 18 are from Bokaro, 4 from Giridih and 5 from Hazaribagh. All these workers were working there since March 29 this year. On July 16, they had expressed their desire to return to India and that their wages were pending for 4 months on X handle.

As soon as the Chief Minister came to know about this, he directed the Department of Labour, Employment, Training and Skill Development to take necessary initiatives. At the same time, a letter was sent to POE, Ranchi by the Secretary, Labour Department to take cognizance of the matter. Through the letter, the workers were asked to take initiative in the direction of their pending wages and their safe return to Jharkhand.

On the initiative of the state government, the company paid the pending wages of the workers and also arranged for air tickets.

The State Migrant Control Room working under the Labour Department contacted L&T company and directed that the pending wages of the workers should be paid as soon as possible. In this regard, the Kolkata Head Office was contacted and Cameroon, South Africa was again informed about the matter. After this initiative of the state government, L&T Company paid Rs 30 lakh to all 27 workers on July 17 as pending wages for 3 months.

The workers informed the state government through video about receiving their pending wages. The company also arranged air tickets to send the workers back to India. On 21st January, all the workers flew from there to India. They reached Mumbai on 22nd July and then arrived at Parasnath station in Jharkhand by train this morning.