Keonjhar: Even as workers play a significant role in the process of nation building, most of them lead a life of deprivation as neither the state government nor the Centre really shows any concern for them, a report said.
The scenario is much the same in organised and unorganised sectors of mineral-rich Keonjhar district with workers rendering jobless in massive scale due to layoff exercise adopted by the local industrial units. The companies, instead of creating more opportunities for the workers, are replacing them with machines.
According to reports, nearly two lakh daily labourers who were dependent on industries directly and indirectly, have lost their livelihood over last couple of years due to closure of mines and industrial units in Keonjhar district.
While the administration doesn’t have details on the number of jobless workers, demonstrations and protests at the units have become a regular affair.
Most of the industrial workers are left with little option as they had earlier given away their lands and lost the forests to the projects after lured by the companies.
The situation is likely to worsen in coming days, apprehended the analysts.
Even as infra projects like roads and bridges are going on in full pace in the district, the authorities prefer to engage the outside workers ignoring the interests of the local workers, it is alleged.
On the other hand, people engaged in MGNREGS projects often don’t get their wages for years which forces them to work as bonded labourers in other states.
The workers are deprived of minimum wages and the facilities provided the government. However, their issues remain unreported due to a lackadaisical attitude of the agencies like labour department, provident fund department and district administration. The poor workers also remain tight-lipped due to pressure from higher authorities and fear of losing jobs.
It was also alleged that the employers manage to twist the rules, designed to protect the interest of workers, in their favour.
For instance, there are no differentiations between skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled workers in many industrial units and the workers get exploited in them. The workers are also deprived of many government facilities as they are engaged through consultancy firms.
In such cases, the employers make them overwork for paltry wages since the workers are not registered with the labour department, said the experts and are of the view that protection of workers’ interest should be a priority of the government.
