Malda (West Bengal): In a tragic incident, a 40-year-old migrant labourer's body returned to his village on Wednesday after he succumbed to his illness. The deceased has been identified as Sujan Paharia who belonged to the Balodera Shimuldanga village of the Malda district in West Bengal.
According to the reports, Sujan took advance from a contractor to work in the hilly state of Uttarakhand. He went to work three months ago but after working for two months, his health started deteriorating. He took medicines as prescribed by the doctors but did not recover. So, he urged the contractor and company officials to let him go to his home. He also requested the officials that he will resume his work after recovery. He was not allowed.
A village doctor in Dehradun prescribed medicines to him but Paharia's health could not improve. Following this, the contractor's wife informed the labourer's family about his deteriorating health. On receiving the information about her husband's health, his wife rushed to Dehradun on Tuesday and immediately shifted him to the local government hospital. On Tuesday morning, Sujan died of his illness.
Sunil Paharia, a relative of Sujan, said, "Sujan went to work under a contractor and fell ill there. After hearing the news, my daughter-in-law with her two sons and a daughter left for Dehradun. He (Sujan) was admitted there and he died the next morning."
"I want the contractor and the company under whom he was working to compensate his family, otherwise, his wife with his three children will be in trouble", he added.
Ranjan Lohar, a representative of Jatradanga Gram Panchayat, said, "Sujan died after going to work in Dehradun. Even though the contractor or the company did not provide him treatment after his health deteriorated, he died without treatment. The company and contractor are responsible for it".
"Sujan has three small children. He was the only earning member of the house. I seek financial compensation from the contractor and the company for Sujan's family", he concluded.
