Sunday 22 / December / 2024
Muscat: Bikku Prasad, the undocumented Indian worker battling for life at a hospital in Oman, will be flown home by the Indian government if medics say it is safe to do so.
Times of Oman reporter about Bikku on Monday’s edition
India’s Minister of External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj, responding to messages about Bikku’s plight on her Twitter feed, said he will be flown home for treatment if his doctors say it is safe to do so and the Indian government will pick up the tab.
The Indian authorities acted less than a day after the Times of Oman revealed Bikku’s plight.
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Responding to a tweet by Times of Oman reporter, the Indian minister had tweeted that Bikku will be flown back to India if the medics permit.
“If Doctors permit travel we will contact his family and bring Bikku Prasad back to India,” the Indian minister tweeted on her official twitter handle.
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Bikku had come to Oman hoping for a new life. Now, he is clinging to his old one--a man on a ventilator trapped in limbo, he collapsed just three days after getting a job but his papers were under processing. He was on a visit visa for three months before getting a job.
Without correct papers, he is also stuck in bureaucratic limbo, with nobody ready to pay his medical bills. Had he come to Oman through proper channels, his hospital treatment would have been covered.
Instead, he came on a visit visa and then found a job. He had not received his labour card when he collapsed at work.
Meanwhile, a senior official from the Indian embassy said that they will be visiting Bikku and lend help tomorrow.
Kabeer CV, the social worker who brought the pathetic condition of Bikku to people’s attention, expressed his thanks to Times of Oman and the Indian government for acting promptly.
“Good to hear that the Indian minister has taken up the case. Thanks a lot,” Kabeer added.
On the third day of accepting the job, Bikku fell unconscious.
Medics are saying that he has suffered a cerebral stroke and the chances of recovery are remote.
As his documents were under processing, it can be said that he is an ‘undocumented worker’ at this stage and he cannot claim any health insurance or is not going to get any compensation.
According to Oman government statistics, there are around 650,000 Indians working in Oman.
