Chandigarh, June 2 (IANS) Seven women and one boy from Punjab were reunited with their families, as they landed at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi Friday.
With them, the total number of rescued women in two weeks rose to 24 under the initiative Mission Hope run by Punjab AAP Rajya Sabha member, Vikram Sahney.
He said the Mission Hope, which was launched last month, is achieving great success and they are committed to bringing every stranded Punjabi girl from Oman.
"Our team is working on a war-footing and have visited Oman twice to liaise with all stakeholders to expedite the rescue operation as soon as possible," he said.
Sahney added he has hired a prestigious immigration law firm in Oman, which is fighting the legal battle to accelerate the process of taking these girls back home.
"Our lawyers are connecting with the sponsors and agents of these women and paying them the requisite penalties to get all the necessary documents for these girls to travel back home."
Sahney informed that the women who came on Saturday are from Jalandhar, Shahkot, Phillaur, Jagraon, Patti, Tarn Taran, Nakodar and Bathinda.
They were stranded after being lured by unscrupulous agents and so-called manpower consultants to go to Oman on false pretexts of employment there.
While one boy from Jalandhar, who was also trapped and was working as a sevadar in a local gurdwara in Muscat, was rescued by paying an overstay penalty.
Sahney, who is also the International President of World Punjabi Organisation, is bearing all the cost of penalties which sponsors are demanding to cancel the unreasonable contracts of these women, their air tickets, etc.
Akso Sahney runs a community kitchen at the shelter home where women from different parts of India are seeking refuge in Muscat.
Sahney said all seven women who were rescued will go to their nearest police stations and file FIRs against their respective agents who duped them and sent them to Oman by making false promises.
In a video message to the farmers, he said several crops were grown on the fertile land but gradually the farmers confined themselves to paddy only. He said this has adversely affected the topography of the state in terms of excessive power consumption, depletion of water table as most of the blocks had gone in extreme dark zones, pollution due burning of stubble and others.
As a mark of protest against the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha, and to press its demand for a probe into the allegations of fraud levelled against the Adani Group, the Congress has launched 'Jai Bharat Satyagraha' across the country against the Centre. The party has set up a war room to monitor the 'Satyagraha', which will culminate in Delhi with a rally.
As per the police, the cover over an old stepwell, around 50 to 60 feet deep, on which devotees were standing to offering their prayers, caved in, due to which around 30 people fell into it. Panic spread as people started crying after seeing their beloved gasping for life in the deep well.
The comprehensive overhaul of the H-1B and L-1 visa programmes will protect American workers and crack down on foreign outsourcing companies, which exploit these visa programs to deprive qualified Americans of high-skilled jobs. The two visa programmes were created to complement America's high-skilled workforce.
During the meeting, the Chief Minister expressed the concern of the state over the proposed water cess on hydropower plants being implemented by the Himachal Pradesh government. Mann said the water cess should not be implemented as it is against the interests of the state.
The police had earlier arrested K. Harish and J. Malathy, who were also directors of the company. Five more people are still at large in the multi-crore cheating case carried out by the company in the state.
