No Indian worker held captive in Sri Lanka: Government

NEW DELHI: No Indian worker involved in labour dispute with any Sri Lankan company is held captive in that country, government told Rajya Sabha today.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj stated this on the basis of information received from the Indian High Commission.

Replying to questions, she said 77 labourers stranded in Sri Lanka were brought back on January 6 and January 8 this year.

The workers had been sent to a "black listed" Indian company in Sri Lanka by unauthorised agents, she said, adding the Centre has written to governments of Karnataka and Rajasthan to probe the case of unauthorised agents.

Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu, while replying to questions pertaining to his ministry, said development of slum areas in Delhi is facing practical problems as residents are not ready to temporarily move to other places to provide for construction work in those areas.

To another question, he said Centre has launched Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) at an estimated cost of Rs 62,009 core with the target to make the contry clean by October 2, 2019.

"Under SBM, solid waste management projects are eligible for grant/viability gap funding up to 20 per cent of total project cost form Government of India," he said.

The balance funding will come from various other such sources like state governments, urban local bodies and private sector.

He also said government was consulting international experts for solid waste management.