KOCHI: The Pravasi Legal Aid Cell has approached the Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia seeking his intervention in providing legal aid to the three Malayali nurses who stranded in Riyadh. In a request sent to the Ambassador, the organisation pointed out that three nurses - Saramma Varghese, Subhadra Omana Kuttan and Sreelatha Vasudevan Nair, who were working with a Poly Clinic in Riyadh for the last 18 years, are left in the lurch after they failed to produce the required documents. The request pointed out that after the death of their sponsor in 2009, the clinic was managed by his son, who later authorised another person to run it for two years. “However after two years, he shut down the clinic on January 2010 without giving prior notice to any employee or giving them the option for a job change,” the letter pointed out.The request stated that after the closure of the clinic, the employees were not getting salaries. Meanwhile, their resident cards also got expired, making things worse. The employees then approached the Saudi labour court seeking justice. The Labour Ministry issued a judgement on May 4, 2011, ordering to pay compensation to the nurses. However, the owner of the clinic appealed against the order. “The new Judge asked us to sign a settlment agreement written in Arabic which we initially refused. But, we did sign after the advice of the translator at the Indian Embassy. Then we were told that our application and earlier judgement were overturned,” the letter said.They pointed out that they have approached the Indian Embassy several times seeking legal assistance. The request, sent through legal consultant Advocate N Vikraman and coordinator Abdul Latheef Thechy, pleaded the Ambassador for his timely intervention.
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