Riyadh, Aug 13(Arab News): A senior Indian diplomat has warned elderly Indians to think twice before accepting jobs in the Kingdom’s farms offered by recruiting agents back home.

“It is a tough job for the physically weak and aged,” S.D. Moorthy, consul (community welfare) at the Indian Consulate in Jeddah, told Arab News on Friday. Moorthy explained that some workers desperate to come to the Kingdom are lured by unscrupulous agents promising them good salaries without apprising them of the nature and demands of the jobs.

“Such vocations include loading and unloading of goods, planting and watering crops, feeding and looking after the livestock on a 24-hour basis. Furthermore, the worker has to live in a hut on a farm through hot and cold weather,” Moorthy said. The official said that the mission regularly gets complaints from many workers who cannot cope with the work conditions on the farms.

Citing a recent case, Moorthy said P. Govindasamy, 51, from Tamil Nadu, came to work as a shepherd at Al-Kharj, some 60 km from Riyadh in February 2010. “He worked with the sponsor for six months and was unable to cope with the work conditions. He developed a skin disease and breathing problems. On seeing his feeble condition, his sponsor sent him away from the farm,” the consul said. Govindasamy was paid a very low salary during his employment.

“Govindasamy  was roaming around Riyadh and on somebody’s direction came to Jeddah. He reached the Indian Consulate in a poor condition with many medical complications,” the diplomat said.

The consulate issued him a travel document to return to India and his case was taken up with the Passport Department officials. He was repatriated on Thursday.