"‘Didn’t get salaries for 4 months’: An ordeal in Cameroon for Jharkhand workers"

Seventeen migrant workers from Jharkhand, who were stranded in Cameroon for nearly four months allegedly without salary, returned home on Monday after intervention from the state and central governments…

A total of 19 workers from Jharkhand had gone to Cameroon in 2023. They worked for Transrail Lighting Ltd. Two of them still remain in Cameroon as the formalities for their release are still being completed, officials said.

The Indian Express reached out to the company, but is yet to receive a statement…

…He said they had gone abroad on December 28, 2023, on the assurance of earning Rs 30,000 a month, but on arrival, they discovered they would only be paid Rs 24,000.

He accused the company of withholding four months’ salary. “For 12–14 months, we were paid, but then the company stopped payments. We were left without salaries for four months,” he said…

…He said his family is thousands of rupees in debt. “Many households here are in debt. We managed by borrowing, but interest keeps piling up,” he said…

…Seventeen others have already gone back, but two of us are still here because our passports expired and the renewal process got delayed,” Soren said…