Six women migrant workers rescued from Tamil Nadu

The girls had gone to Bannari Spinning Mills Limited in Tamil Nadu to work. They hail from Sonua block of Chaibasa and were forced by a contractor to work at the spinning mill. They were held hostage and were not allowed to return.

Ranchi: Six women migrant workers hailing from Jharkhand's West Singhbhum district have been rescued from Tamil Nadu where they were held captive in a yarn spinning unit, a Jharkhand government release said on Wednesday. The migrant workers hail from Sonua block of Chaibasa and were forced by a contractor to work at the spinning mill. They were held hostage and were not allowed to return, it said.

The Jharkhand government intervened after they appealed for help. The Safe and Responsible Migration Center, Chaibasa, and State Migrant Control Room worked for the safe return of the women, the release said. "Six women of Sonua block located in Chaibasa have safely returned from Tamil Nadu after intervention by the state government. All these girls had gone to Bannari Spinning Mills Limited, Tamil Nadu to work. A total of Rs 36,000 has also been paid towards their remuneration," the statement said.

Earlier this year six women migrant workers from Jharkhand were rescued from Karnataka where they were held captive in an apparel unit and another five workers from Hospet in the southern state, where they were held hostage. As many as 16 migrant workers from Jharkhand who were allegedly held captive at an island in Andhra Pradesh for fish farming were also rescued in January this year.

Prior to this, the state government had rescued 32 migrant workers and their five children, who were residents of the Santhal Parganas region, from Kerala where they were forced to work in a tea garden under adverse conditions. In yet another instance, tribal migrant workers and their children who were made to live like bonded labourers at a brick kiln in Uttar Pradesh were brought back by the Jharkhand government. (PTI)