Migrants bitter about being forced to work against their wishes
BENGALURU/NEW DELHI: Anger and disappointment coursed through the migrant worker population in Karnataka a day after the state cancelled special trains to take the labourers home even as other states insisted they had no intention of following suit.
The Karnataka government’s late-night decision sent shockwaves through the state’s migrant population.
“I want to see my family including my two children, I don’t want to work here,” said 36 yearold Vinod Kumar, who hails from Bihar and worked as a steel rod bender in a factory in Bengaluru. “I don’t want the food or money or anything else they are providing. I just want to go back and be with my family.”
The controversial decision also sparked a political tussle, with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) pointing out the economic benefits of workers staying back and the Congress alleging the stoppage of trains was a violation of human rights.
The state, which had earlier sent six trains of workers to Bhubaneswar, Patna and Hatia, wrote to the Railways on Tuesday night withdrawing its request for additional trains. The decision came after a meeting of chief minister BS Yediyurappa with construction industry representatives, who expressed concern that work will grind to a halt if the labourers left the state. The CM defended the decision , saying the state is providing all facilities to the workers.
NEW DELHI: Representatives of trade union organisations on Wednesday held a meeting with Union labour minister Santosh Gangwar via video conferencing and appealed against the use of coercion to stop migrants workers from returning to their homes, sought more trains for them to do so amid the Covid-19 crisis and incentives for their return to their host states.
“They [workers] should be provided incentives to return to host states such as cash, electronic passes, free train tickets etc. You cannot hold them captive,” said CK Saji Narayanan, the head of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s labour wing, the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh.
Narayanan’s comments came a day after Karnataka withdrew a request sent to the Railways to provide trains to ferry migrants from the state back to their homes towns. The development came after representatives from the construction industry met chief minister BS Yediyurappa and expressed concerns about labour shortage if the migrants went back. Over 50,000 people had registered to go back to Bihar alone.
The Centre has made an exception for the stranded people and allowed them to travel even as inter-state borders remain closed as part of the national lockdown.
At the meeting with Gangwar, the BMS opposed the extension of working hours at factories in several states, saying it violated International Labour Organization conventions and labour laws. “Many are fleeing due to lack of proper treatment. Industrial associations, trade unions, government officials and local elected representatives should collectively undertake a campaign to retain labour at the workplaces...,” Narayanan said. He urged the ministry to ask states to stop pay cuts, and frame regulations and guidelines on automation, robotics etc.
The All India Trade Union Congress demanded sufficient trains for workers to return to their home states and improvement in ration distribution. “We asked for the implementation of the ministry’s own advisories in regard to payment of wages, no retrenchment...,” AITUC general secretary Amarjeet Kaur said in a statement after the meeting.
As per a statement issued by the ministry, Gangwar pointed out that there is a need to find solutions to the challenges for workers. He asked the Central Trade Union Organizations to suggest measures .