Iraq war shatters dreams of debt-ridden Bihar workers
With handsome salaries promised to them, they had dreamt of ending the prolonged spells of miseries faced by their respective families over the years.
When Raju Ram and Mohammed Maqsood Alam- two daily wagers from Bihar - had left for Iraq around a year and a half ago, they had hoped to earn quick bucks and put an end to their financial woes, once and for all.
With handsome salaries promised to them, they had dreamt of ending the prolonged spells of miseries faced by their respective families over the years.
It was their ambition to get employment in the Gulf that had taken them to the doorsteps of local money-lenders to seek loan at an exorbitant interest rate. All their dreams lie shattered now. Ram and Alam are back to their villages in Bihar, and they have no money to repay the loan. Earlier this week, both had to flee the strife-torn Iraq to save their lives, leaving everything they had earned behind in Iraq.
Ram - a resident of Bharpatiya village in Gopalganj district - said he had taken a loan of Rs 1.50 lakh at a monthly interest of five per cent from a village money lender to be able to get a job in Iraq a year-and-ahalf ago. "I was already under huge debt," he said. "One of my acquaintances got me in touch with a placement agency in Mumbai, which asked for Rs 1.5 lakh to get me employment in Iraq."
He got a job in a private firm at Najaf. Ram, who had left his wife and two children behind in his village, said when problems started in Iraq about two months ago, his employers left the place. He alleged that though he was promised a monthly salary of Rs 45,000, he was given only Rs 25,000 when he went there. "I had no option, but to take up the job," he said. "My employer kept my passport.
Indian Embassy officials helped me get out of Iraq," he said. Alam, father of three children, had a similar tale to tell. A resident of Mathurapur in Samastipur district, he too had taken a loan of Rs 1.20 lakh to get a job at Tirkit. "I earned Rs 30,000 a month by working as a mason," he said. Everything changed, however, with the outbreak of violence at the place where he lived two months ago. "The area where I stayed was bombarded by terrorists several times," he said, adding, that even his passport taken by his employers. "We managed to escape with the help of the Army," he said.
Ram and Alam said that they did not have proper meal for several days in Iraq. "It was only after we reached Delhi on July 5 that we could eat full and proper meal," Alam added.