3 min readJalandharJun 2, 2023 04:20 PM IST
First published on: Jun 2, 2023 at 04:20 PM IST
Seven young women and one man hailing from Punjab Friday reunited with their families, as they landed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi under #MissionHope. The initiative was launched to rescue the women stranded in Oman, taking the total number of people rescued from Punjab to 24.
Rajya Sabha MP Vikramjeet Sahney said that #MissionHope was launched last month to bring home every Punjabi girl stranded in Oman. “Our team is working on a war footing and has visited the Gulf country twice to liaise with all the stakeholders to expedite the rescue operation,” he added.
Sahney added that he has hired a prestigious immigration law firm in Oman that is fighting the legal battle to speed up the process of bringing the women back home. “Our lawyers are connecting with the sponsors and agents of these women and paying them the requisite penalties to get all the necessary documents for these girls to travel back home,” the AAP MP said.
The seven young women hail from villages, including Pind Indna Kalasi Jallandhar, Shahkot, Jalandhar, Aapra, Phillaur, Galib Kalan, Jagraon, Patti, Taran Taran, Kamalpura, Nakodar, Akaliya, and Bathinda.
The victims were stranded after being allegedly lured by unscrupulous travel agents and so-called manpower consultants to fly to Oman on the promise of good job offers.
Meanwhile, a youth from Jalandhar also got trapped in the West Asian nation and later he ran away from his sponsor and started working as a ‘sevadar’ (helper) at a local Gurdwara in Muscat. He was also rescued by paying an overstay penalty.
Sahney said that all the eight people who returned home Friday will have to go to their nearest police stations tomorrow and file FIRs against their respective agents who duped them and sent them to Oman on false promises.
Sahney who is also the international president of the World Punjabi Organisation is bearing all the costs including the penalties which the sponsors are demanding to cancel the unreasonable contracts of the victims, their air tickets, and travel fare from Delhi airport to their respective homes in Punjab. Apart from this, Sahney is also running Langar Seva (community kitchen) at the shelter home where girls from different parts of India are seeking refuge in Muscat.
Sahney said due focus is also given to the rehabilitation of the rescued women in Punjab. “Our work does not get over just by bringing these women back home,” he says.
“We are offering them free-of-cost residential training at our world class skill development centres at Delhi and Amritsar, where these girls will stay at our hostels and learn employability skills and seek dignified placements in Punjab itself,” he said.
Stranded Indians in Gulf of Oman brought back to India by Punjab government under #MissionHope on June 2, 2023, Friday.(Express photo) 
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