The bodies of the two workers haven’t been cremated till now and are lying in the mortuary of Phillaur civil hospital and the dharna outside the SDM office entered day 5 on Monday. (Express file photo)Seven labour unions along with a few farmer unions of Punjab will block the Ludhiana-Jalandhar highway near Phillaur bus stand on Tuesday, seeking compensation for the death of two NREGA workers who were run over by a train on September 14.
The bodies of the two workers – Avtar Singh (55) and Ram Lubhaya (65) – haven’t been cremated till now and are lying in the mortuary of Phillaur civil hospital and the dharna outside the SDM office entered day 5 on Monday.
Mukesh Malaud, president of the Zamin Prapti Sanghrash committee said, “We had a meeting with additional deputy commissioner Jalandhar but it appeared that he was bargaining over dead bodies…we were told that they can think of arranging compensation up to Rs 3 lakh per person. When a farmer dies in an accident, they are given compensation up to Rs 10 lakh, so why this discrimination against a labourer…we were shocked to hear that claim of a NREGA worker if he dies during work is only Rs 25,000 per person…is this the value of the life of a labourer who does hard work all day?”
Talking about the incident, Kashmir Singh, press secretary of the pendu khet mazdoor union, said, “We had staged a dharna outside Dreamland colony in Sangrur from September 12 to 14. On September 14 afternoon, the dharna was lifted and the labourers returned to their home districts. NREGA workers Avtar Singh and Ram Lubhaya along with many others boarded a train from Sangrur to Phillaur on that day. After reaching Phillaur, they started walking on the tracks to reach the main road in order to hire an auto rickshaw to reach their villages. But they were run over by a train coming from behind.”
Avtar was unmarried and hailed from village Pabwan in Phillaur, while Ram Lubhaya was from Badala village. He is survived by a son and two daughters. Their villages are at a distance of some 10-12 km from the railway station. Avtar was living with his nephew, said Kashmir Singh.
Meanwhile seven farm labourer unions are protesting under the banner of Sanjha Morcha Punjab. They have been extended support from Kirti Kisan Union and BKU Ugrahan- the largest farmer union of Punjab. Demands of labour unions are Rs 10 lakh each compensation and job to a family member. Interestingly on Saturday, unions had demanded compensation worth Rs 5 lakh each which was increased to 10 lakh on Monday.