Medical aid for low paid Indian workers in Saudi Arabia

Dubai, Oct 1 (UNI) Low paid Indian workers in Saudi Arabia, especially those in the unorganised sectors such as livestock farms and small shops, can hope to get emergency medial assistance under a scheme to be launched soon.

The Indian Embassy is considering blueprint of an emergency treatment plan that would cover those getting less than Saudi Riyal (SR) 600 (Rs 7,325) a month or without regular salaries, a spokesman of the Federation of the Kerala Associations in Saudi Arabia (FOKASA) has said.

The target is to create a SR 250,000 (Rs 3.5 million) corpus fund with contributions from the embassy's welfare section, well-to-do Indian expatriates and fund-raising campaigns through cultural programmes.

The fund, which will be administered by the embassy, would help poor Indian workers who subscribe to the scheme for SR 50 (Rs 610) annually.

The association has signed up a few polyclinics for the workers' treatment with FOKASA standing as financial guarantor so that medical help is not denied in case of emergency.

If a worker requires long-term treatment, he would be paid SR 2,000 (Rs 24,000) towards air fare to go back home for treatment.

The ceiling on aid is SR 10,000 (Rs 122,000) under the scheme.

UNI XC CS BD1420