Murshidabad man brings Bengal’s Gulf workers home

Every few days, poor families from Murshidabad, Nadia, Malda, North 24 Parganas and Howrah reach a small office at Panchanantala in Behrampore with passports, Aadhaar cards and photographs in hand. Most have lost a husband, son or brother working in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar or Kuwait. Others want to bring home relatives stranded there. They all ask for one person—Matiur Rahaman.

From the office of the Karno Subarno Welfare Society, around 220 km from Kolkata, Matiur sits before a computer, sending emails to the Prime Minister’s Office, the Union ministries of external affairs, labour, and women and child development, and Indian embassies in the Gulf countries and Malaysia. He also posts alerts on X, tagging the ministries and embassies, urging the authorities to act quickly.

Thousands of workers from rural Bengal are employed in construction companies, healthcare facilities and households in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE and Malaysia as sweepers, masons, helpers and domestic workers. Some die in accidents or from illness. Others seek help to return home after alleging abuse or harassment by employers.

The distress calls Matiur receives are rooted in a wider migration network operating across Murshidabad and neighbouring districts. More than 150 agents allegedly operate in areas such as Kandi, Lalgola and Domkal, arranging passports, visas and other paperwork for youths seeking jobs in West Asian countries.

For every case, Matiur prepares the paperwork, uploads the documents on the Centre’s MADAD portal and follows up with the ministries and Indian missions abroad. Families bring him passports, visas, Aadhaar cards and other papers. He completes the paperwork and keeps pursuing the case until there is a response.

Many workers from economically weaker families pay between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 1.5 lakh to agents for overseas jobs as sweepers, helpers and construction workers.