- Ministry of External Affairs is going to instigate an investigation over seven employees being held hostage in
IL&FS Ethiopia by local workers due to non-payment of salaries. - Cash-strapped IL&FS hasn’t paid taxes and pensions to local workers for nine months.
- Some of the employees reported the matters on Twitter seeking the help of Indian government, politicians and Foreign Ministry
Seven Indian employees working at Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd — which defaulted in payments of $12.6 billion — alleged that some of the local workers have detained them since 25 November.
They are being held at three different sites in Oromia and Amhara states in Ethiopia, Bloomberg $4 citing a letter by the employees addressed Indian and Spanish ambassadors.
The problem at hand
The issue seems to revolve around the fact that the IL&FS Group canceled some of the road projects which were supposed to be finished by its India-Spain joint venture. Their incompletion spread concern among the local workers according to the Indian employees.
Even the Ethiopian police and local officials are empathetic towards the local employees.
IL&FS Group’s local partner, Ethiopian Roads Authority, refused to take any action until the local workers are paid according to a tweet by Neeraj Raghuwanshi with a screenshot of email mail seeking help.
$4 Respected sir,
Kindly help my Father $4 and there colleagues (Working in ILFS Ethiopia) which are kept hostages from 7 days by Local staff of ILFS Ethiopia due to non payment of salary. $4
The firm hasn’t paid both, taxes and the pension of local employees, for nine months because India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India, denied sending funds to help them out. The letter adds that following the non-payment, local authorities have kept the company’s employees hostage in an attempt to extort their salaries.
Some employees, claiming that they work in IL&FS Ethiopia, took to Twitter seeking help from the Indian government.
$4 $4 $4 $4 Sir we seven people are hostage by locals in Ethiopia, due to non payments of $4 What is employee's fault sir.even we didn't get salary from last 5 months all worked in Ethiopia for $4 help please b4 it's 2late $4 $4
— neeraj raghuwanshi (@chota86) $4 ]]>The Indian embassy in Ethiopia has been following the case and engaging with the local authorities as well as IL&FS management to ordain a solution. The Ministry of External Affairs in India is also looking into the matter.
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