10,000 jobless Indians ‘starve’ in S-Arabia

New Delhi, July 30

Over 10,000 Indian workers in Saudi Arabia are facing severe food shortage due to financial hardship after losing their jobs and the government has ordered its mission in the Gulf nation to provide food to them, besides other assistance.

Late in the evening, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj appealed to 30 lakh Indians in that country to help their “fellow brothers and sisters”. “We have asked @IndianEmbRiyadh to provide free ration to the unemployed Indian workers in Saudi Arabia,” she tweeted. 

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Her initial response came following a tweet by a man who said around 800 Indians were starving for the last three days in Jeddah and sought her intervention. However, later, she said, “The number of Indians facing food crisis was over 10,000, and not 800, as is being reported.”

VK Singh, MoS for External Affairs, will soon travel to the Gulf nation to assess the situation while his counterpart in the ministry MJ Akbar will take up the issue with Kuwait and Saudi Arabian authorities. “My colleagues @Gen_VKSingh will go to Saudi Arabia to sort out these matters and @MJakbar will take up with Kuwait and Saudi authorities,” she tweeted. 

The Indian Consulate, in association with Indian community in Jeddah, has already distributed 15,475 kg of food stuff and other items. —  PTI