Dear Sir,

The news item  “Workers’ hospitals in Industrial Area, Shamal and Mesaieed” (Gulf Times, May 14) reinforces the unassailable commitment of the Qatar authorities in ensuring the proper healthcare of all foreign workers in the country. The official support extended to the workers in various spheres of activities is laudable and worthy of emulation by other countries as a proactive approach to enhance workers’ well-being. 
While work related to the hosting of the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup is progressing according to the schedule, news like opening of the new state-of-the-art hospitals at various strategic locations comes as a great relief not only for the workers but also their families in their home countries. Thanks to the efforts of the authorities, the concept of welfare has gathered momentum with a keen focus on workers’ interest. 
Also the Welfare-HR professionals’ role and responsibilities have undergone a sea-change in the recent past. There have been all-round improvements in various areas, namely payment of salaries through WPS, accommodation, medical facilities, safety measures, recruitment process, fair treatment, etc. As an HR-Welfare professional, I profusely thank the government for the new “healthy” initiative.

V Kalyanaraman
Doha


Beware of fraudulent calls

Dear Sir,

A couple of days ago,  I received a call from a local number, the caller identifying himself as an employee of “Vodafone”. He asked me which language I would prefer to speak and I told him to speak in English. But he suggested that we talk in Hindi. I told him to go ahead and he “broke” the “happy news” that I had won a million riyals in a lottery conducted by “Vodafone”.
Then he gave me a 10-digit number and asked me to dial it for details. I told him: “Ok, but let me first inform the police as the owner of a million riyals would require police protection”. He ended the call. I called Vodafone and informed them about the incident.
I just wanted to share my experience so that Gulf Times’ readers are aware of such fraudsters, who are on the lookout to fleece gullible victims.

Abdul Kareem ET
Doha

India can play ME peacemaker’s role

Dear Sir,

With reference to the news “Modi meets Abbas, renews support to Palestine cause” (Gulf Times, May 17), I would like to say India and Palestine have enjoyed brotherly ties historically. India has been one of the strongest supporters of the Palestinian cause outside the Arab world. India with its conviction born out of its own fight against the British empire, always stood firmly behind the Palestinians’ struggle.
Mahatma Gandhi was of the view that Palestine belonged to the Arabs as France belonged to the French. India wants to see a sovereign, independent and a viable Palestinian state which co-exists peacefully with Israel. Even the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat greatly respected India for its unwavering support to the cause.
Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas, who recently visited New Delhi, has rightly said that India had been a long-standing friend of the Palestinian people. Today, India has influence at the international level and New Delhi enjoys the trust of the Arab world from the Gulf to Maghreb. Hence there is a growing possibility of India playing a crucial role and participating in the next round of Middle East peace talks, which can lead to a comprehensive solution to this decades-old problem. In fact, this problem deserves to be solved at the earliest.
Today, Palestine and Israel need a honest peace broker, which India can provide under the dynamic leadership of its Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 
                                                                                                                                    Ramesh G Jethwani
Bengaluru, India


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