Gulf worker returns home from desert

As a result of coordinated efforts by the Indian Embassy officials and social workers based in Kuwait and Riyadh, Namdev Rathod, 51, of Nirmal district, who had been forced to work as a camel herder in a desert in Saudi Arabia by his employer, returned home on October 1, 2024.

In a selfie video sent to his wife, Laxmi of Ruvvi village in Nirmal district, in August this year, Mr. Rathod narrated his plight in the harsh desert climate in Saudi Arabia.

He fervently appealed to Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to help him return home.

He lamented that he was promised a housekeeping job in Kuwait but was forced to work as a camel herder in the desert amid extreme temperatures by his employer.

His wife Laxmi, subsequently approached the Protector of Emigrants (POE), Hyderabad, Ministry of External Affairs, seeking its intervention to repatriate her husband from Saudi Arabia.

Mr. Rathod arrived at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad from Riyadh on Tuesday (October 1, 2024) morning.

He was received by his wife and son at the airport. Migrants Rights Activist and the TPCC NRI Cell convenor Bheem Reddy Mandha was also present.

A visibly relieved Namdev thanked Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, the Indian embassy officials in Kuwait and Riyadh, the Saudi Arabia Telugu Association, and Mr Bheem Reddy for helping him to return home safely.

Upon his arrival in Hyderabad, he submitted a petition at the Pravasi Praja Vani cell at Praja Bhavan in the State capital seeking financial help under a rehabilitation package for Gulf returnees.