News Analysis India

Tag: migrant labourers

  • Odisha train crash; Bengal family loses three sons and all breadwinners

    Express News Service

    KOLKATA:  The accident in Balasore has not only snatched away Subhadra Gayen’s three sons but also dried up the income of the 12-member family in Basanti, South 24-Parganas of West Bengal.

    The three brothers, Haran (47), Nishikanta (45) and Dibakar (41) were going to Andhra Pradesh to work as migrant labourers. They had promised Subhadra that they would come back after two months with their hard-earned money to take care of their children’s education and a better life for the family members.“Now, I and my daughters-in-law and their children do not know what we will do. I find no way out other than begging, which will be difficult to feed 12 of us,” said Subhadra.

    Basanti, a part of the Bay of Bengal’s Sunderbans region, is inhabited by migrant workers because of a lack of jobs in remote areas. The three left their village on Friday along with their two other neighbours Bikash Halder (24) and Sanjay Halder (28) to board the Coromandel Express from Shalimar station in Howrah.

    “We heard about the train accident on Friday night when a neighbour, who has a TV in his house, came to our house after watching the news. I started praying for the safety of my sons and spent sleepless night,” Subhadra said.

    “Next morning, the news of the death of Bikash and Sanjay came. I was counting the moments with a ray of hope that there would be good news for me. But my hope shattered when the local police came and informed me that my three sons were found dead in the mangled compartment in which they were travelling. Everything in front of me collapsed,” recounted Subhadra in her 70s, with tears rolling down her face.

    Anjita, Haran’s wife, was speechless and fainted several times since then. Nishikanta’s wife Rekha continued lamenting hugging her two children. “Dibakar’s wife Brihaspati said she was against her husband’s decision of going to Andhra Pradesh. I told him that I would also join him and work as daily labouer in our area.

    But he said getting a job of a daily labourer in our area is difficult. I even told him that we would start begging, but he did not listen to me. He left for Andhra with two brothers to earn money for our children’s education,” she said. According to state government officials, a total of 12 people lost their lives and 110 were injured from South 24-Paraganas.

    Haran, Nishikanta and Dibakar from Basanti, a part of Bay of Bengal’s Sunderbans region, were going to Andhra Pradesh to work as migrant labourers and promised their father they would come back after two months with money to take care of their children’s education and family members. A large number of migrant workers venture out to other states due to lack jobs in remote areas. 

    KOLKATA:  The accident in Balasore has not only snatched away Subhadra Gayen’s three sons but also dried up the income of the 12-member family in Basanti, South 24-Parganas of West Bengal.

    The three brothers, Haran (47), Nishikanta (45) and Dibakar (41) were going to Andhra Pradesh to work as migrant labourers. They had promised Subhadra that they would come back after two months with their hard-earned money to take care of their children’s education and a better life for the family members.
    “Now, I and my daughters-in-law and their children do not know what we will do. I find no way out other than begging, which will be difficult to feed 12 of us,” said Subhadra.

    Basanti, a part of the Bay of Bengal’s Sunderbans region, is inhabited by migrant workers because of a lack of jobs in remote areas. The three left their village on Friday along with their two other neighbours Bikash Halder (24) and Sanjay Halder (28) to board the Coromandel Express from Shalimar station in Howrah.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    “We heard about the train accident on Friday night when a neighbour, who has a TV in his house, came to our house after watching the news. I started praying for the safety of my sons and spent sleepless night,” Subhadra said.

    “Next morning, the news of the death of Bikash and Sanjay came. I was counting the moments with a ray of hope that there would be good news for me. But my hope shattered when the local police came and informed me that my three sons were found dead in the mangled compartment in which they were travelling. Everything in front of me collapsed,” recounted Subhadra in her 70s, with tears rolling down her face.

    Anjita, Haran’s wife, was speechless and fainted several times since then. Nishikanta’s wife Rekha continued lamenting hugging her two children. “Dibakar’s wife Brihaspati said she was against her husband’s decision of going to Andhra Pradesh. I told him that I would also join him and work as daily labouer in our area.

    But he said getting a job of a daily labourer in our area is difficult. I even told him that we would start begging, but he did not listen to me. He left for Andhra with two brothers to earn money for our children’s education,” she said. According to state government officials, a total of 12 people lost their lives and 110 were injured from South 24-Paraganas.

    Haran, Nishikanta and Dibakar from Basanti, a part of Bay of Bengal’s Sunderbans region, were going to Andhra Pradesh to work as migrant labourers and promised their father they would come back after two months with money to take care of their children’s education and family members. A large number of migrant workers venture out to other states due to lack jobs in remote areas.
     

  • Two labourers from UP killed in grenade attack in J-K, LeT ‘hybrid terrorist’ arrested

    By PTI

    SRINAGAR: Two migrant labourers were killed after terrorists hurled a grenade at them in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir in the early hours of Tuesday, police said.

    A local “hybrid terrorist” of the proscribed outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was arrested for the attack during a search and cordon operation, they said.

    “Hybrid terrorists” are unlisted radicalised people who carry out terror strikes and slip back into their routine lives often without leaving any trace.

    2 migrant labourers from UP killed in a grenade attack by militants in Harmen area of Shopian in south Kashmir. The deceased labourers identified as Monish Kumar & Ram Sagar, both residents of Kanooj, UP.@NewIndianXpress @santwana99 @TheMornStandard
    — Fayaz Wani (@iamfayazwani) October 18, 2022
    Below are links to other such attacks in Jammu and Kashmir:

    1. Four militants killed in separate encounters in J-K’s Shopian 

    2. Cop killed, CRPF personnel injured in militant attack in J&K’s Pulwama

    3. Encounter breaks out between militants and security forces in J&K’s Kulgam

    4. Two militants involved in attack on labourer killed

    5. Kashmiri Pandit shot dead, brother injured in militant attack in J&K’s Shopian

    SRINAGAR: Two migrant labourers were killed after terrorists hurled a grenade at them in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir in the early hours of Tuesday, police said.

    A local “hybrid terrorist” of the proscribed outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was arrested for the attack during a search and cordon operation, they said.

    “Hybrid terrorists” are unlisted radicalised people who carry out terror strikes and slip back into their routine lives often without leaving any trace.

    2 migrant labourers from UP killed in a grenade attack by militants in Harmen area of Shopian in south Kashmir. The deceased labourers identified as Monish Kumar & Ram Sagar, both residents of Kanooj, UP.@NewIndianXpress @santwana99 @TheMornStandard
    — Fayaz Wani (@iamfayazwani) October 18, 2022
    Below are links to other such attacks in Jammu and Kashmir:

    1. Four militants killed in separate encounters in J-K’s Shopian 

    2. Cop killed, CRPF personnel injured in militant attack in J&K’s Pulwama

    3. Encounter breaks out between militants and security forces in J&K’s Kulgam

    4. Two militants involved in attack on labourer killed

    5. Kashmiri Pandit shot dead, brother injured in militant attack in J&K’s Shopian

  • As migrants stay back, Punjab faces no labour crunch for paddy sowing this year

    Express News Service
    CHANDIGARH: Last year, the exodus of migrant labourers to their home towns across India after the announcement of the lockdown in March had affected paddy sowing in Punjab. But this year, paddy farmers in the state have reasons to cheer.

    There is labour surplus as farm labourers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, who had returned to Punjab after the lockdown restrictions were lifted, stayed back despite the deadly second wave of the pandemic as they had faced tough times back home. The surplus labour means charges for paddy transplantation are less compared to last year.

    The paddy transplantation began on June 10. Last year, labour charges had doubled due to shortage of farm hands, resulting in a heavy burden on the pocket of the farmers. This year, the labourers are charging anywhere between Rs 2,500 and Rs 4,000 per acre compared to Rs 4,000-Rs 6,000 last year.

    Another good news for the farmers is that due to good pre-monsoon showers, they will have to depend less on tube wells for irrigating their fields. “This year there is no labour shortage… Last year, they charged high rates and we had no choice but to pay,” said Harinder Singh Lakhowal, a farmer leader who has 50 acres in Ludhiana’s Lakhowal village.

    “Last year, the local labourers took advantage of the reverse migration and charged double the prevailing rates as paddy sowing is a specialised job,” said Gurvinder Singh, who has 30 acres in Ludhiana’s Kumkalan village.

  • Delhi CM did theatrics over people fleeing lockdown, same in Maharashtra, Haryana, Punjab: BSP chief Mayawati

    She demanded that vaccines should be administered for free, especially the poor, Dalits and tribals, and economic assistance should be given to them.

  • Provide food, accommodation to migrant labourers: Mayawati urges Centre, state govts

    By ANI
    LUCKNOW: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati on Wednesday appealed to the Centre and state governments to make arrangements for free food and accommodation for migrant labourers and workers who are planning to return home amid a surge in COVID-19 cases.

    Speaking to ANI, Mayawati said, “I appeal to state governments to make arrangements for free food and accommodation for migrant labourers and workers who are planning to return home amid a spike of COVID-19. I have also urged the Centre to provide every kind of support to the states.”

    ALSO READ: Fearing lockdown migrant workers returning to native places

    She lauded the Centre’s move to organise the four-day-long ‘Tika Utsav’, a special vaccination drive launched on April 11, to ramp up inoculations against the coronavirus disease. However, she suggested that it would have been better if the Centre had vaccinated the poor for free.

    “The special campaign to celebrate the introduction of vaccines is a good thing. But it would have been more appropriate if this festival was celebrated by administering vaccine doses to the poor and needy free of cost,” she said.

    Mayawati also paid tribute to Dr BR Ambedkar on the occasion of his 130th birth anniversary. She said that the party cadre is holding low key celebrations for Babasaheb’s anniversary due to the COVID pandemic.

  • Punjab farmers drug migrant workers, use them as bonded labourers: MHA to Amarinder govt

    By Express News Service
    CHANDIGARH: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has written to the Punjab Government that migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are forced to work as bonded labourers in the state and they are often given drugs which adversely affect their physical and mental condition. 

    These facts came to light as the Border Security Force (BSF) has rescued a few of them.

    The Centre has informed the Punjab government that 58 mentally challenged people from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh were found working as bonded labourers in the border districts of the state and asked it to take appropriate action to deal with the “serious” problem.

    In a communication to the chief secretary of Punjab, the Union Home Ministry said the Border Security Force (BSF) has found these 58 people were brought to Punjab with the promise of good salary but exploited, given drugs and forced to work in inhuman conditions.

    The home ministry said the BSF has informed it that these labourers were rescued from the border areas of Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Ferozepur and Abohar in Punjab in 2019 and 2020.

    “During the course of questioning, it emerged that most of them were either mentally challenged or were in a feeble state of mind and have been working as bonded labourers with farmers in border villages of Punjab.

    ALSO READ | Punjab CM Amarinder Singh assures support to ‘arhtiyas’ on MSP payments to farmers through them

    “The persons apprehended belong to poor family background and hail from remote areas of the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh,” the letter, accessed by PTI, said.

    The home ministry said it has been further informed that “human-trafficking syndicates hire such labourers from their native place to work in Punjab on the promise of a good salary, but after reaching there, they are exploited, paid poorly and meted out inhuman treatment”.

    To make them work in the fields for long hours, these labourers are often given drugs, which adversely affect their physical and mental condition, the letter said.

    The BSF has been handing over the rescued persons to the state police for necessary action.

    “Keeping in view the multi-dimensional and overwhelming enormity of the problem, which involves human-trafficking, bonded labour and human rights violation, you are requested to look into the matter and take appropriate measures to address this serious problem,” the home ministry told the Punjab government.

    The Punjab government has also been asked to inform it on priority about the action taken in the matter.

    The home ministry also sent a copy of the letter to the Union Labour Secretary with the request to issue suitable instructions to all states, especially Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha for creating awareness amongst people to ensure that the poor are not duped by unscrupulous elements by making false promises for better job prospects.