20,000 Indians to use the Amnesty scheme to get back to India

Thousands of Indian workers, most of them illegal or having overstayed their visa period, are planning to get back to India under a 90 day amnesty period that the country is offering them. Anil Nautiyal, counsellor (community welfare) at the Indian embassy said 20,321 indian nationals had applied to exit the nation under the Amnesty Scheme. 

Among them, close to 1500 workers are from Tamil Nadu. Apart from that, there are others from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. The Indian embassy had appealed to all such blue-collared workers to use the benefits of the scheme and get back to their country. In fact, there was a wider opportunity to avail the scheme because unlike a similar event in 2013, which was restricted to only Jeddah and Riyadh, the country had 21 available locations to guide Indians out of the country.

Meanwhile, most of the people who could exit the country were relieved. Speaking to the Times of India, one such blue-collar worker P Murugavel a native of Kallakurichi taluk in Villupuram district, said, "I have been through hell in the last four years, working for four different sponsors, most of whom did not pay me. The working and living conditions were harsh. I am thankful for the amnesty offer and that I am returning home even though I'm empty-handed and do not know what the future holds for me."
 

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