Punjab expatriate receives compensation from UAE firm after accident

Dubai, June 23

An Indian expatriate, who lost both his hands and legs to an infection caused after an accident during work in the UAE, has received 202,000 dirhams (USD 54,994) as compensation from his employer after the intervention of the Indian mission in Abu Dhabi, according to a media report.

Gurbinder Singh, who hails from Punjab and worked as a crane operator for a private company in Abu Dhabi, had injured his knee and was diagnosed with serious medical condition resulting in amputation of both his hands and legs.

Even before he was discharged from the hospital, Singh was terminated from his job with a final settlement of 5,750 dirhams, Khaleej Times reported.

After getting to know about the case, the Indian embassy in Abu Dhabi held discussions with Singh’s employer and after a series of follow-ups by embassy officials, the company raised the settlement amount to 202,000 dirhams, the paper reported.

Indian Ambassador to the UAE Navdeep Suri said timely intervention by the embassy had helped the family.

“We were shocked when we heard about the tragic circumstances of Gurbinder. We immediately contacted him and once we got all details of the situation, we approached his employer. Following our intervention, the employer offered a generous compensation package. I appreciate the company’s positive response to our intervention. There should always be such system in place when someone meets with an accident,” the paper quoted Suri as saying.

He noted that the compensation package included costs for artificial limbs. PTI