Early Times Report
Jammu, May 27: Absence of help desk in Jammu for migrant labourers has defeated the very purpose of Shramik trains—an initiative taken by the Centre to facilitate the travel of these labourers to their native places.
According to the labourers stranded in Jammu they have been unable to get in touch with the administration and they are being “exploited by the agents.” “These agents are taking money from us to get our names included in passenger list,” labourers told Early Times.
“Any labourer stranded across the country can travel in these Shramik Trains free of cost but the ones stuck in Jammu are being asked to pay for their tickets by these agents,” they said.
“Whenever we go to Railway Station to register our names in the passenger list, we are asked to approach administration. We are told that only those people will be added in the list, whose names will be submitted by the Labour Department. The officials in the Labour Department have only one reply that they have submitted the list. We are being made to run from pillar to post,” the migrant labourers said.
“Government had appointed officers of Labour Department for helping stranded people but none of the officers have circulated their contact number to help the migrant labourers stuck in Jammu. In absence of any support from administration, agents have been charging Rs 300-500 per person for including their names in passenger list,” they claimed.
“Railway officials consider only those people, whose list is submitted by the administration. We have no option but to pay to get ourselves enrolled in list through agents,” they alleged. |
