ROURKELA/JAJPUR: A group of migrant labourers, stranded at Jharbera in Kuanrmunda block, have appealed the Jharkhand Government to facilitate their return to the State. Around 14 labourers from Sahebganj district of Jharkhand were engaged by a contractor for construction of household latrines. They are staying at a house at Jharbera.
They said the contractor stopped the work and did not pay them before the lockdown. Stranded with no money and food, the labourers are left in a lurch. One Sheikh Yusuf said his mother is repeatedly asking him to return home but he is unable due to suspension of bus and train services. “While villagers helped us initially, now they are reluctant,” he said.
Two days back, Sundargarh Collector Nikhil Pawan Kalyan said the administration would arrange food and shelter for stranded migrant workers across the district. But help is yet to reach the workers. Similar is the plight of 400 workers, stranded without food in a partially-constructed private cement plant in Jajpur district since the lockdown.
The workers, mostly from Jharkhand, West Bengal and Bihar, were employed in Ramco Cement plant at Haridaspur by a private contract firm. They staged agitation outside the plant on Sunday alleging that the firm has neither provided them ration nor wages to survive through the lockdown period. The plant has been closed since Tuesday. The workers alleged that they have not been paid for the last three months. Dharmasala Tehsildar Saroj Kanta Panda said the issue has been discussed with management of the firm and District Collector and help will be extended to them.