Jharkhand labour minister Satyanand Bhokta acting on the directive of chief minister Hemant Soren through the state migrant control room will ensure the safe repatriation of 33 workers trapped in Mali in Africa through flight to Ranchi within the next five days.

As per an agreement reached between the private company and workers which was mediated by Indian Embassy officials at Mali on Tuesday late evening, the company will be paying pending payment for October and November which will be credited in the Indian bank account of the workers. While the December month salary would be used in arranging flight tickets from Bomako to New Delhi and then to Ranchi and also for bearing food expenses and other emergency requirements of the workers.

“Indian embassy officials at Mali, Vijay Pandey and Rakesh Kumar Diwakar were present during the signing of the agreement. The general employees will be given a salary at the rate of $400 for two months while supervisors will be paid salary at the rate of $750 for two months. The company will book flight tickets by economy class from Bomako (capital of Mali) to Ranchi via New Delhi in the next five days. The company will issue a no-due certificate to each of the employees and bear daily needs of the employees till they board the flight,” said a coordinator at the Jharkhand state migration control room.

Sources in the state migrant control room informed that 33 villagers from Giridih district and Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand were taken to Mali in early 2021 to work in a power transmission project under a private company Kalpataru Power Transmission Private Limited.

“They were assured quarterly payment of $400 (around Rs 29,725) for general employees and $750 for supervisors. However, they did not receive their quarterly payment for the period October-December leading them to face problem of food and stay. The contractor who had taken them to work as fitters has escaped after taking all their passports. This led them to send a video citing their pathetic condition to their family members on Sunday which was sent to the chief minister Hemant Soren,” said an official in the state migrant control room in Ranchi.

The chief minister in turn directed the state labour minister to ensure the safety and well being of the workers on Monday.

“We got into action and got in touch with the Indian Embassy in Bamako, Mali and on Tuesday managed to get in touch with workers at their site,” said the official.

State labour minister Satyanand Bhokta also informed about establishing contact with the workers.

“We have managed to establish contact with the workers and through the Indian, Embassy ensured that they are safe in their site. Since their passport has been taken away we are in consultation with the Indian Embassy to arrange for their repatriation to India as early as possible,” said Bhokta.

The minister also informed that the Indian Embassy has arranged for food, accommodation and other logistics for the workers stranded in Mali.

Officials at the state migration control room also informed that the mobile phone of the alleged contractor from Andhra Pradesh named as Ramesh Chakraborty has been switched off.

The Jharkhand government was the pioneer in launching the Safe and Responsible Migration Initiative (SRMI) in December last year to enable systemic registration of migrant workers for monitoring and analysis in the source as well as the destination districts.