On Friday, agitating workers pelted stones and broke window panes, after which police were called in. Manoj Kumar
After thousands of workers hired to complete construction of DLF Camellias — an upscale, gated condominium on Gurgaon’s Golf Course Road — launched a protest, sub-divisional magistrate Bharat Bhushan Gogia Saturday directed officials from the construction company, Leighton India, to look into grievances of the workers and improve working conditions. Camellias is a DLF project comprising 429 four, five, and six bedroom apartments and penthouses spread over 16 towers, costing several crores each. On Friday morning, workers allegedly went on a rampage, pelting stones at officials and breaking window panes.
They complained of two main issues — lack of adequate transportation to help them commute to and from work, and poor quality of food provided to them. “The company has arranged for us to stay at Uliawas village in Sector 61, and has organised transportation to take us to work and back. However, there are around 3,000 workers, and only seven buses,” said a worker who did not wish to be named.
In such a situation, workers claim they have to begin lining up from 5 am to take the bus, with the last batch reaching the site only by 8-9 am. In the evening, despite the shift ending at 8 pm, workers claim that those at the end of the queue reach home around 11 pm. “How can they expect us to work in such conditions? When you are doing manual labour, surviving a working day that lasts over 15 hours and then repeating the cycle the next day is impossible,” said a worker.
Workers also complained that the quality of food being provided — including “watery aloo sabzi” — is “very poor and without nutrition”. Leighton India, meanwhile, called the incident “minor in nature”. In a release issued on Friday, it stated, “There have been some queries with regard to altercations between workers and their supervisors at the site. We would like to put on record that these were minor in nature, stemming from some misunderstanding, and have been amicably resolved between the two parties.”
Police personnel had to be summoned to the site on Friday to control the situation, with peace being restored after close to two hours. By evening, a case had been registered against 40 unnamed workers at Sushant Lok police station by the company, under IPC sections 147 (punishment for rioting), 148 (rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 427 (mischief causing damage to amount of Rs 50).
Protesting workers, meanwhile, found a sympathetic ear in SDM Gogia, who visited the site during the protest and later directed officials to address worker concerns after holding discussions with them. “I have directed officials to look into grievances of workers and increase the number of vehicles provided for their transportation from seven to 20. I have also directed that they ask them to work in shifts, instead of making them work from 8 am to 8 pm,” said Gogia.
He said he has also directed that the officials prepare a weekly food menu to provide more “variety”, and set up a committee of workers who can monitor the food quality and take up any issues with higher officials. “I have also directed that the company set up a grievance cell,” he said.
