Nagamani from Andhra Pradesh survived a five-hour spinal surgery for her broken back and underwent intensive post-operative therapy to be told, with cautious optimism, by her surgeons that with extensive therapy she might one day be able to walk. The news is unlikely to have brought cheer to Nagamani who had come to the Gulf country of Bahrain to earn a living as a housemaid in order to support herself and her two young children.
Depressed by the harsh treatment at the hands of her employer and a low salary, she had, on April 2, 2007, jumped out of her employer’s flat. Now lying in her hospital bed all that she could think about was the costly rehabilitation that she required and the expense this would entail. Who would provide this costly rehabilitation without which she was unlikely to be able to work again?

Or take the case of 33-year-old Rajan Puthiyariyil from Kerala, who had survived serious multiple injuries and a 45-day coma, after being hit by a speeding car in the UAE on April 28 last year to wake up as a physically challenged man with no means of earning for his treatment or provide for his family. Things looked even bleaker for Billu Jagdish who lay in coma, unidentified for a year, before emerging from the coma, a paralyzed man. Billu, from the small village of Islampur in Jhunjhunu district in Rajasthan, needed physiotherapy, special toilets and other assistive modifications in his house just to be able to live there. He was one of the lucky few though, as the Dubai-based charity, ‘Valley of Love’, took on the responsibility for his repatriation, rehabilitation and setting up of a fund to support his family.

These are just a few of the cases that are common in this part of the world. The Gulf, comprising mainly of the six GCC countries of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait, has long been a magnet for Indian workers seeking better earning opportunities. They arrive in huge numbers, legally and illegally, chasing dreams of a better life.

The reality can, however, be often different. On the surface things do not look that worrisome but leaf through the daily newspapers of the region and the dark underbelly of the Gulf dream gets exposed. Trapped in the web of, sometimes illegal employment, this vast work force has no access to any insurance. So, in the event of a work place accident or any other serious mishap or illness they are left with no means to support themselves or their families. Thanks to a generous and mostly free, state-funded medical system they do get the life-saving treatments that they need. Those in coma or left disabled seriously are also taken care of by the government hospitals, free of cost.

This stay in the hospital can, ironically, be the most hopeful and perhaps the easiest part of their injured lives as they are looked after medically and provided solace by volunteers from various Indian social organisations who become their family friends and counsellors.

The real struggle, however, begins when the hospitals try and send them back to their homes. To be fair to the host countries, they cannot be expected to provide free long term care to an unlimited number of expatriate workers. These workers are not citizens of the host countries and therefore do not qualify for disability pension either. So, eventually, from state-of-the-art medical facilities these patients have to be transferred to their homes where only dependent family members await them. Adding to the financial difficulties is the fact that many of these workers hail from small villages and remote towns where medical services are rudimentary at best.

Fellow Indians donate and collect money for air fare, and raise money for the family’s immediate expenses but cannot offer continued help once the workers are back home. There is enough anecdotal evidence, to safely state, that many just go back to suffer in obscurity and possibly die for lack of medical treatment and some are simply abandoned by their families.

These migrant workers are hailed for the billions of dollars they remit home annually so why do they become children of a lesser God when injured? A nation’s manpower is its biggest resource so why is there no safety network for them? Who is responsible for them? The very poverty that sends them in search of employment overseas becomes the reason for their family member’s reluctance to accept them back.

The government would do well to regulate the outflow of the workers making insurance mandatory for all. It is important that those seeking a livelihood are made aware of the possible pitfalls and the suitable measures that they can take to protect themselves. There is also an urgent need to supplement the efforts of individuals, who reach out with offers of help, with an upgrade of medical and rehabilitation services in all parts of the country.