J'khand labourers stranded in Tajikistan to return home: Official

Migrant labourers from Jharkhand, who had been stranded in Tajikistan for over two months, will return to their home state, an official said on Tuesday.

In the first phase, 22 of the 35 stranded labourers will return, while the remaining people will return after their tickets are booked, he said.

The labourers, while interacting with family members through social media, had alleged that a company engaging them in laying of power transmission lines, seized their passports and provided them with scant food and no money at all.

"Twenty-two of the 35 workers stuck in Tajikistan are returning to Jharkhand, while the remaining will return after getting their tickets," the official of the state migrant cell said.

Later, Chief Minister Hemant Soren retweeted a tweet from the state migrant cell that said the Indian Embassy in Tajikistan was contacted for their safe return.

They had left for the central Asian nation on December 19 last year, after being promised handsome pay by agents of the firm operating in India, officials said.

The labourers hail from the districts of Hazaribag, Bokaro and Giridih.

Hazaribag Deputy Commissioner Nancy Sahay had earlier said she has received complaints from the kin of the stranded workers that they were forced to lead a life similar to bonded labourers.

"On basis of the complaints, I have informed the state migrant cell to take up the issue with the authorities concerned, and find avenues for the release and safe return of the labourers to their native places as early as possible," Sahay had said.