On Thursday morning, Jai Shankar landed in Chennai, just glad that he is reunited with his family. He will figure out how to make ends meet later.
With dreams of supporting his family and providing a better life for his children, 37-year-old Jai Shankar, left for Kuwait in February 2015. With his appointment as a driver in a private car rental company, began a difficult time for Shankar.
Shankar was promised a salary of 170 Kuwaiti dinars, but was only given half of it. “In the first three months, the drivers given 70 Kuwaiti dinars. That was all we had to take care of our expenses,” said Shankar.
Moreover, the workers had to pay for their accommodation and food expenses. It cost Shankar 30 dinars a month. “I worked for more than 12 hours a day, and was not even paid my full salary,” he said.
In addition, Shankar had to put up with customers who were often prejudiced. “They do not like Indians and they are very rude to us,” said Shankar.
Tired of the torture and suffering, Shankar applied for emergency leave from the company to return to India. “My father had also passed away this year. In March, I wanted to come back,” he said.
But sadly, the company denied him leave. Shankar and his colleague Ibrahim Mohammed decided to seek help from the Indian embassy.
Shankar feels that the embassy there supports Kuwaiti companies more than Indian people. “The embassy does not help in any way. When we went to complain, they asked us to come after four months. Later they even tore the clearance letters given by the Kuwait government. When we asked why they did so, they did not give us a reason,” said Shankar.
Since March, Shankar and Ibrahim made every attempt to return to India. “We were living with our friends, without money or a job. We were even put in jail for 12 days for asking for emergency leave and not following the agreement with the company.” said Shankar.
Finally, the National Domestic Workers Movement in Chennai and a forum for non-residents from Karnataka intervened and contacted the Indian embassy in Kuwait and provided them with tickets to return to India.
Now, Shankar wants to find a job and support his family. For the moment, he is happy to be home, with his famil