DAMMAM, 6 February — A high-level Indian delegation led by eminent jurist and parliamentarian M.L. Singhvi was to arrive in Riyadh yesterday evening to study the conditions of the Indians workers in the Kingdom.
The four-member delegation will only visit Riyadh during its one-day trip. Indian community in the Eastern Province expressed indignation over the apathy of the fact-finding team toward workers in other parts of the Kingdom.
The team has no plans to visit the Eastern Province and Jeddah where huge numbers of Indian workers are based. Last month the same delegation visited the United Arab Emirates and stayed in Dubai for two days and visited Abu Dhabi for one day. There are nearly 1.6 million Indians in the Kingdom, the highest number in the whole of the Middle East. In Ahsa region alone, there are nearly 400,000 Indians, most of them farm workers.
Indian residents in Dammam and Alkhobar say that the delegation will not be able to get a clear picture of the conditions of Indian workers in the Kingdom if its limits the visit to Riyadh and as a result it will provide wrong information to concerned authorities back home. They urged Indian Ambassador Talmiz Ahmad to persuade the visiting team to extend its stay for a few more days and visit Dammam and Ahsa.
