Hazaribagh: As many as 19 migrant laborers from Jharkhand stranded in Sri Lanka have appealed to the Central and Jharkhand State governments to repatriate them, accusing the Sri Lankan company of confiscating their passports. The workers, who come from several cities in Jharkhand including Giridih, Hazaribagh, and Dhanbad, took to social media to reach out to the Indian government and seek help. They also complained of being deprived of food and other basic necessities by their employer, Kalpataru Transmission Company.
19 Jharkhand workers stranded in Sri Lanka plead for help from Centre, state govts As narrated by the speaker in the social media post, the 19 workers were brought to Sri Lanka on February 18, after a broker lured them by promising employment in the Kalpataru Transmission Company there. The workers joined the work but weren't given salaries for two months. Their passports were confiscated when they started asking for salaries, as the worker in the video informs.
Sikander Ali -- a social worker in Jharkhand who works for the welfare of migrant laborers -- said that this is not the first time that such a thing has happened in Jharkhand. "Laborers go abroad in search of work, but they eventually have to face many problems. It becomes difficult for them to come back to India," Ali said.
Ali further attributed the frequency of such problems to the unemployment in the state. "Migration and livelihood concerns are still one of the crucial problems in Jharkhand, especially faced by the lower strata of the working class. Until there are efforts towards strengthening the employment situation here, the migration of laborers will continue since they would have no other option than to go abroad to sustain their livelihood," the social worker opined.
There have been several such cases in the past. Out of the 30 laborers who were reported stuck in Malaysia, 10 were successfully rescued last Thursday, while 20 laborers still remain there waiting to be repatriated.
The workers trapped on the Sri Lankan land include advocate Mahto, Karu Ansari, Abdul Ansari, Firoz Alam, Akhtar Ansari, Chhatradhari Mahto, Devanand Mahto, Sahdev Mahto, Ramchandra Kumar, Prasadi Mahto, Pradeep Mahto, Koleshwar Mahto, Tilak Mahto, Rajesh Mahto, and Mahesh Mahto -- all from Giridih. While Manoj Kumar from Dhanbad and Nageshwar Mahto and Devendra Mahto from Hazaribagh are also included.
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