Ranchi: The State Government has taken cognizance of the incident of assault on the labourers of Jharkhand at a place called Lumber in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh.
On the instructions of Chief Minister Hemant Soren, the officials of the State Migrant Control Room of the Labour Department interacted with Dharmendra Rathi, the owner of Norwain Company located in Lumber, Kinnaur. Norwain is the same company in which the workers of Jharkhand had gone to work.
Describing the incident of assault with the labourers of Jharkhand as unfortunate, the State Migrant Control Room has asked the company to provide relief to the labourers.
Company owner Dharmendra Rathi has informed that the workers injured in the incident have been admitted to the hospital. The company has asked those labourers of Jharkhand who want to return home to apply. Apart from this, arrangements have been made for train tickets to send 16 labourers of the first group back to Jharkhand. These labourers have boarded the train to come to Jharkhand on Sunday (October 10) and all will reach Koderma on Tuesday. From there they will return to their home district of Khunti by bus.
The company has accepted the demand of sending one month’s salary and arrears to the workers in their bank accounts. The company has said that all the labourers of Jharkhand who want to return home should apply. The company will make arrangements for their return.
After the incident of assault, an FIR has been registered in Kinnaur in the matter. Efforts are being made to reach an agreement on this too. It has been said on behalf of the company that for the last 40 years, the labourers of Jharkhand have been working in Himachal Pradesh and they have sympathy with the workers of Jharkhand. They will continue to cooperate with the Jharkhand government in this matter.
150 labourers from other districts including Khunti of Jharkhand had gone to work in Himachal Pradesh. In the past, due to a dispute over some matter, the local labourers there beat up the labourers of Jharkhand. In this, the condition of two or three labourers of Jharkhand is said to be critical, who are being treated in a hospital in Himachal Pradesh.
The workers returning here have breathed a sigh of relief and have thanked the State Migrant Control Room including Chief Minister Hemant Soren and Labour Minister Satyanand Bhokta for taking the initiative to bring them home.