Telangana Cong urges Rs 500 Cr budget allocation for the welfare of Gulf workers

Hyderabad, Jan 28: Telangana Pradesh Congress committee (TPCC) NRI Cell Gulf Convenor Singireddy Naresh Reddy on Saturday requested that a budget of Rs.500 crore be allocated for the welfare of Gulf workers in the Telangana budget to be presented in next month.
Talking to reporters at Gandhi Bhavan here, Singireddy said that TRS did not fulfill the promises made for the welfare of Gulf workers in its 2014 Election Manifesto.
He said that 1700 Telangana migrant workers died in the Gulf countries due to various reasons in the last eight and a half years, and the register of coffins at Shamshabad Airport Police Station is a proof of this.
The government should pay Rs 5 lakh ex gratia to the families of the Gulf dead as per Chief Minister KCR’s promise, he demanded and asked for the introduction of special schemes for the rehabilitation and reintegration of workers who have returned from the Gulf and to establish a welfare board for Gulf workers as part of the comprehensive NRI policy, he also demanded.
At present 15 lakh Telangana migrant workers living in Gulf countries are sending 1,500 crores of foreign exchange every month at the rate of Rs.10,000 each, TPCC NRI Cell Chairman Ambassador Dr. BM Vinod Kumar said. As per the calculation, 1 lakh 53 thousand crore rupees have reached Telangana in the last eight and a half years at the rate of 18 thousand crore rupees per year and contributed to the strengthening of the Telangana economy, he said.
Vinod said that this money has been utilized in the domestic economy and at least 10 percent of the local taxes have earned the state government an income of 15,300 crore rupees in the last eight and a half years. Gulf workers are benefiting the central government in the form of foreign exchange and taxes to the state, he added.