Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today called up former Indian Ambassador to Iraq Suresh Reddy, who has been specially deputed by the Government of India (GoI) to oversee the rescue operations of Indians trapped in the strife torn country, to ensure safe and prompt return of the Punjabis to the state.The Chief Minister also urged Mr. Reddy to sort out the issues of those Punjabis who were willing to comeback but their employers were reluctant to relieve them due to certain reasons adding that the GoI must get any issue related to the employers settled through direct intervention of Labour department of the Iraqi National Government on priority. On the other hand, Mr. Badal categorically cleared that any Punjabi who was willing to return Punjab but hesitating to do so for the financial burden incurred by him/ his family on account of hefty loans/ advance money taken for their immigration to Iraq, should come back to their motherland as the state government would bear such entire expenditure incurred by them or their family. He said that it was the bounden duty of the state government to help the distressed Punjabis and their families in this hour of crisis by relieving them of such mental agony.
Meanwhile, the Joint Secretary (Gulf and Haj) from Ministry of External Affairs Mr. Mridul Kumar called on the Chief Minister at Kapurthala House this morning to apprise him about the initiatives taken by the GoI for the safe and early evacuation of Indians especially the Punjabis stuck over in Iraqi civil war. Mr. Badal asked the Joint Secretary to also bail out the Punjabis trapped in the war zone there by facilitating them a safe return to their country. Apart from this he also asked Mr. Mridul Kumar to ensure the return of even those Punjabis settled in safe zone of Iraq but were now willing to come back here due to sense of uncertainty and fear.
Expressing satisfaction over the initiatives taken by the Ministry of External affairs to secure safe release of Punjabis from war torn Iraq, the Chief Minister conveyed his heart felt gratitude to the Union External Affairs Minister Mrs. Sushma Swaraj for taking personal pains and keen interest in this regard. Mr. Badal said that he was keen to meet the Union External Affairs Minister today to update her on the latest developments but she was unavailable due to a foreign visitThe Chief Minister was accompanied by his Special Principal Secretaries Mr. KJS Cheema and Mr. Gurkirat Kirpal Singh.