TNI Bureau: BJP national vice-president and party’s Kendrapada Lok Sabha candidate, Baijayant Panda helped 17 Odia labourers, who were stranded in Laos, to return home safely.

According to the 17 labourers, of whom 11 belonged to Aul, Rajkanika and Rajnagar of Kendrapada, one each from Dhenkanal and Keonjhar and the rest from Jajpur, were reportedly working at the same company in Laos.

An agen had taken them there with lots of promises. However, the workers alleged that they were not given the remuneration as assured instead they were forced to work for more than 12 hours a day.

Through different ways and means the helpless stranded workers cried for help and expressed their willingness to return back to home. Even their family members had urged the Kendrapara district administration and Panda to help them rerun home.

After learning about the misery of the workers, Panda on March 27 wrote a letter to the Indian ambassador in Laos and sought the intervention for their safe repatriation.

Based on Panda’s letter arrangements were made for the labourers, who returned to their native village  on Friday.