Karnataka keeping our people like bonded workers: Oraon

Ranchi: Jharkhand finance minister Rameshwar Oraon on Thursday said that their government will soon register a protest with their Karnataka counterpart after it cancelled all special trains to take migrants stranded in the southern state. He said that they will try to work out a way out to bring people stranded there.
On Wednesday, a Shramik special train with 1,150 migrants from Jharkhand arrived at Barkakana junction in Ramgarh from Bengaluru early in the morning. The train left the Karnataka capital on Monday evening, a day before the B S Yeddyurappa government stopped all special trains from leaving city.
He said, “When the inter-state movement of stranded migrants and people has been permitted, how can a state government stop anyone keen to return from coming back home. They are keeping our people there as bonded labourers. Our government will speak with the Karnataka government on this.”
Oraon, who is also state Congress president, did not give any timeline but said he will write to AICC president Sonia Gandhi seeking intervention at central level to build pressure on Karnataka. Congress spokesperson Alok Dubey said that they are contacting the party’s Karnataka unit to resolve the issue.
The ruling JMM also criticised Karnataka. Party's general secretary Supriyo Bhattarcharjee said, “The BJP-ruled Karnataka government’s decision is highly condemnable. This exposes how the BJP government is trying to engage Jharkhand migrants as bonded labourers. We demand central intervention in the matter.”
Chief minister Hemant Soren has not yet responded on the issue even as several rights groups and stranded people tweeted to him. TOI’s calls to his office and aides went unanswered.
Citing resumption of construction activities, the BJP-led government in Karnataka cancelled all special trains to ferry migrants. It is estimated that around 50,000 migrants from Jharkhand work in Karnataka as labourers and daily wagers. So far, only two trains from Karnataka have come to Jharhand, including one that departed before the curbs were imposed and reached Ramgarh on Thursday with more than 1,100 passengers.
Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha, a conglomeration of rights groups, criticised the Soren government for maintaining a silence on the issue. Siraj Datta, one of the conveners of the outfit, said, “We demand all the MLAs and MPs of Jharkhand and the state government to officially register their protest against the Karnataka government’s diktat. It is like forcefully keeping people captive. Those who want to come back should be allowed to.”
He added, “The CM and the government led by him are yet to come up with a statement. Also, there is no clarity on the trains, their timings etc at the state level. We demand all schedules should be made public in public interest.”
A senior bureaucrat engaged in coordinating with states, said, “As per MHA guidelines, movement of trains can happen only with consent of the two states involved. If the sender state decides to stop the trains, there isn’t much one can do immediately unless the two government’s sort out the matter. We recently had a similar problem with West Bengal, where our buses were stopped, which has now been resumed after hectic parleys.”
Amid the impasse and uncertainty, several stranded migrants hailing from Jharkhand told TOI about their problems. Latehar resident Krishna Singh (25) said he was beaten up by police at Yeshwantpur station in Bengaluru two days ago when he reached with his other native peers to return to Jharkhand.
Singh added he has lost his job at a plastic factory in Kacholi in Bengaluru where he worked for months. “The owner expressed inability to temporarily run the factory and asked to look for other options,” he said, adding that he is desperate to return home to his wife and daughter. “They are facing many problems in Latehar,” he said.
Another migrant from Latehar, Gajendra Singh, said, “Despite filling up all the forms online and otherwise, we are not aware about our return. We were not even informed about the trains that left Bengaluru on Tuesday despite registering for the journey.”
Deoghar-based Kuber Kumar Vishwakarma (26) who works at a gym equipment-manufacturing plant in Bebgaluru said, “I have not got my wages for April, but I want to return home as there is no one to take care of my elderly parents. Here, we are facing problems of food and other issues. Even the helplines don’t work properly.”