A wake-up call for labourers

Manas R Bannerjee in Malda

Dec. 26. — The collapse of an under-construction shopping mall in south Delhi on Saturday in which 10 Malda labourers were killed was a wake up call for thousands of skilled and unskilled daily labourers who are forced to go to different states of the country from Bengal in search of a job, the Malda district labour officials said today. They said that owing to acute poverty the labourers do not even bother to register their names with the state’s labour department before leaving for other states or abroad.Considered as a backward district, many labourers from Malda go to other states for construction and other works. District labour officials said: “The central labour department can only collect information about the victims in accident cases outside the state. No official letter has reached yet in connection with the Saturday’s mishap in Delhi.” “Very few persons come to collect license for their business of supplying labourers. But hundreds of local people have been working as labour contractors. Though they are supposed to submit the group of labourers’ list to the district officials, no body follows the system,” the labour officials said. “Thousands of women from the poor depend on biri binding and they allow their husbands, sons and relatives to work in big cities of the country. They do the job on contract basis. The contractors offer them a contract price for a certain perios and promise to offer some basic facilities, but they do not fulfil their promises. We face difficulties to live in makeshift arrangements at the construction sites and fight against frequent accidents”, Malda labourers said. Recently it was also found that some graduated youths left for places like Malaysia and through various links for the sole objective of getting a job. “After receiving passport from India they are going to other countries and do different daily jobs with the help of various placement agencies. They think remuneration in those countries is better than India,” officials said. Meanwhile, the Malda district magistrate, Mr Abhijit Choudhuri, and the sabhadhipati of MZP, Mr Goutam Chakraborty, today visited the victims’ families in Ratua after attending a meeting of district Human Development planning department. “The bodies of the victims will reach very soon,” the DM said. It was reported that the government declared compensation for the kin of the death people. On the other hand, political interference has formed a new political equation just before the assembly election. To establish service for the victims, two leaders from Congress and the CPI-M were in the race following the New Delhi mishap. The state minister for food processing industries and horticulture , Mr Sailen Sarkar and the union information and Union minister for Information & Broadcasting, Mr Priya Ranjan Das Munshi, were busy in making policies to reach the victims in the northern part of this district from where both the ministers were elected. The congress sabhadhipati of the Malda Zilla Parishad , Mr Goutam Chakraborty assured of the family members that he also looks into their matter.

Pic collected

Relatives break down as bodies reach home

Statesman News Service

MALDA. Dec. 28. — The relatives of the deceased burst into tears at the Malda town station on Wednesday morning when the 11 bodies reached here from New Delhi by train. The Delhi police today handed over the bodies to Malda police and the coffins were handed over to the relatives. The communist party leader and state minister Mr Sailen Sarkar was present at the Malda town station with the district administration to supervise the total matter expressing his condole to the bodies by offering flower and garlands on the coffins there. The CITU workers and other activists of CPIM backed organisation were packed in the station and there was no Congress leader in the political race running after bodies. Sources said the assigned contractors had given them a token money for the expenditure of their funeral and the Delhi based Citu workers played a vital role to send the bodies with the government’s assistance.