Specific Information Service
CHANDIGARH: The Ministry of Residence Affairs (MHA) has written to the Punjab authorities that migrant employees from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are pressured to work as bonded labourers in border villages of the state and they’re typically given medication which have an effect on their bodily and psychological situation.
These information got here to mild after the Border Safety Pressure (BSF) rescued just a few of them. Arun Sobti, Deputy Secretary (PR and ATC), MHA, wrote a confidential letter to the Punjab Chief Secretary and the Director Basic of Police on March 17 saying the BSF had apprehended 58 individuals from the border areas of Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Ferozepur and Abohar in 2019 and 2020. Throughout questioning, it emerged that the majority of them have been “both mentally challenged or in feeble way of thinking” and had been working as bonded labourers with farmers in border villages of Punjab.
The individuals belonged to poor households from Bihar and UP, the letter acknowledged. The MHA letter additional mentioned that human trafficking syndicates rent such labourers on the promise of fine wage, however after reaching Punjab, they’re exploited, paid poorly and meted out inhuman therapy. “For making them work for lengthy hours in fields, these labourers are sometimes given medication which adversely have an effect on their bodily and psychological situation. The BSF has been handing over the rescued individuals to the state police for additional vital motion.’’ The ministry requested state officers to look into the matter and take acceptable measures “to handle this significant issue”.
Motion taken could also be knowledgeable to the MHA on precedence, Sobti acknowledged. Copies of the letter have been additionally marked to Apurva Chandra, Secretary, Union Ministry of Labour and Employment, with request to concern appropriate directions to all states — particularly Bihar, UP, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha — for producing consciousness at varied ranges. When contacted, Punjab’s Further Chief Secretary (Residence) Anurag Aggarwal mentioned: “The MHA letter didn’t have particulars. So, now we have requested the deputy commissioners involved to probe the matter and submit a report.
We’ll take motion as per regulation.” Nonetheless, Surjit Singh Bhura, vice-president of Punjab Border Kisan Welfare Society, denied any such factor was going down. “The farmers of the border areas don’t drive labourers from UP and Bihar into bonded labour and likewise don’t give them medication. The narcotics come from Pakistan and the individuals of our space don’t smuggle them,” he mentioned. The Shiromani Akali Dal additionally termed the MHA missive as a “ridiculous assumption” aimed toward defaming the Punjab farmers.
Former MP Prem Singh Chandumajra alleged the letter was self-contradictory and requested the Union dwelling ministry to not make “illogical connections”. Chandumajra mentioned such letters from MHA would ship a incorrect sign throughout the nation and would create an environment of confrontation. He mentioned there was no FIR about any individual being pressured to work as a bonded labourer in any of the areas talked about within the letter. “The truth is, the alternative is true. Farmers of Punjab pay labourers upfront for his or her companies and that’s why lakhs of migrant employees come to Punjab yearly for planting crops,” he mentioned.
