Mangaluru: labourers from West Bengal demand train

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, May 28, 2020:   Tension prevailed for a while in Jokatte, on the outskirts of Mangaluru, after labourers from West Bengal assembled there hearing about reported cancellation of trains scheduled to leave from Mangaluru Junction on Thursday.

Nearly 4,000 labourers from West Bengal have registered at the Seva Sindhu portal for their journey to their native places in the Shramik Special train.

On Thursday morning, labourers from West Bengal who work in the industrial units in Mangaluru Special Economic Zone, assembled at the Corridor road in Jokatte. They said they have waited long for the train and they want to walk towards their places. They had vacated their houses and their contractor had not paid wages for the last three months, the labourers said.

A team of police officials went to the spot and tried to convince them about the effort being made by the State Government in getting trains. “We have been working hard to send you all to your native places. Bear with us,” a police officer told the labourers. When the labourers pointed that the house owner will not allow them in into their houses, the officer asked them to bring such instances to his notice.

While around 50 labourers took shelter in the hall of Jokatte Panchayat, the remaining labourers went back to their houses.

District officials overlooking the issue of labourers transportation said damage of the railway line because of cyclone has led to cancellation of trains to West Bengal. West Bengal is the only State to which train is yet to leave from Mangaluru.

So far, 24553 labourers have moved in the Shramik Special trains from Dakshina Kannada. As many as 1443 labourers left in Shramik Train to Odisha from Mangaluru Junction on Wednesday night. “All the registered labourers from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Rajasthan, have been sent in the Shramik trains from the district so far,” an official said.

Courtesy:The Hindu