For Charuman Mahto, the last few weeks have been trying. The company that they are employed with in the United Arab Emirates hasn’t paid him in weeks, he doesn’t have enough money to afford food and rent and now, he faces the additional threat of homelessness after their landlord has threatened to throw them out.
Charuman is among 15 migrant workers from Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh and Giridih districts who have been left stranded in Hamim in the outskirts of UAE’s Abu Dhabi after their Hyderabad-based utility company stopped paying them three months ago. With no money for rent, utilities or even food, the workers, who were hired to lay transmission lines, have now appealed to the central and state governments here to help them return home.
The group went to Abu Dhabi’s in January 2024. “While hiring us two years ago, the contractor, Tirupati Reddy, told us that the company has been working there for over 10 years and is trustworthy,” Charuman, who’s previously worked in construction in Kazakhstan, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, said. “The contractor promised to pay us around 1,700 dirhams (approximately Rs 40,000) a month, and we were issued visas and told to pay for flight tickets. We weren’t required to pay for rent or electricity, which the company took care of. However, for the past three months, we haven’t received any pay.”
Calls and texts to contractor Tirupati Reddy and the company’s supervisor went unanswered.
With the company not paying for rent and utilities, their landlord has cut their water connection and has threatened to evict them from the two-room house they share in Hamim, the workers claim.
“This is the only work we know,” Arjun Mahto, a 28-year-old Bishnugarh, said. “But these past three months have been extremely difficult. Sometimes, the contractor would give us Rs 600 to divide between eight people. And now the landlord’s ultimatum. We even begged him to let us stay a little longer.”
“The heat here is unbearable. We won’t be able to live outdoors once we’re forced to leave. Our families back home are worried and are waiting for us to return,” another worker, 40-year-old Bishnu Mahto, said, adding: “Some Bangladeshi workers are helping us in whatever way they can.”
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The workers eventually got in touch with Sikandar Ali, a migrant rights activist. “We are constantly following up with the authorities and will continue to urge the government to take immediate action. Everyone is trying to help in their capacity — sending letters, giving updates to the families,” Ali said.
Shikha Lakra, head of the Jharkhand’s State Migrant Control Room (SMCR) – the migrant helpline under the state’s department of labour — said the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) had asked them to look into the issue “urgently”.
“We are working to bring the workers back safely in coordination with the Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian Embassy in Dubai,” she said.
Meanwhile, despite their plight, the migrant workers said they will continue to look for work abroad.
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“Foreign companies generally pay well, which helps us save and send money home. We used to send up to 1,400 dirhams and keep the rest with us,” Charuman said.
