Nitish Kumar seeks PM's intervention for Indian workers in Angola

Expressing concern over safety of Indian workers in Angola, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to intervene and ensure their fair treatment in the African country.

"I am deeply concerned to know that a large number of Indian workmen, including many from Bihar, have been taken hostage in Angola after a dispute between them and their employers," Kumar said in a letter to the prime minister circulated among the media today.

Quoting media reports, he said there has been firing of tear gas shells and bullets in the air followed by arrest of some Indian workmen and imposition of fines on them in that country.

Anxious relatives of some Indian workmen from Bihar in Angola have reported that their kin were injured and deprived of proper treatment. Their passports have been impounded by their employers and their wages withheld.

The situation in Angola was serious enough to warrant immediate intervention by the government of India, Kumar said and urged the prime minister to direct the concerned authorities to ensure that fair treatment was meted out to Indian workers in Angola and their due wages were paid by the employers.

He also urged the prime minister to direct the concerned authorities to assist those workers willing to return.