Migrant labourers at the Mangala processing terminal, in the oil-fields of Barmer, assert they are more skilled and hence they got the jobs.
Migrant labourers at the Mangala processing terminal, in the oil-fields of Barmer, assert they are more skilled and hence they got the jobs. On the other hand, locals believe workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have deprived them of a livelihood.
Half a dozen people were injured and many automobiles damaged in a clash between local and migrant labourers on September 5. In an attempt to give a message that Cairn India does not believe in regionalism, one of its oilfields was named after Tukaram Omble, who was killed in the Mumbai terrorist attacks.
On Tuesday, labourers barring those who sustained serious injuries in the attack at the construction site of Larsen and Toubro (L&T) resumed work, and their differences with locals became more prominent.
The locals believe migrant labourers at the Mangala terminal have taken away their jobs.
Ajit Singh, who works as a fitter at the L&T’s construction site, told DNA, “I have got an Indian Technical Institute qualification. But if locals say I have got the job and they have lost it, the reason is that they are not qualified.”
Other labourers in the mazdoor colony of Nagana village (near the Mangala processing terminal) said locals were annoyed with them only because migrants got more jobs.
“Irked over losing out on jobs, they are targeting us. At times, they engage us in scuffles and sometimes resort to stone-pelting to harass us,” Sajjan Kumar, a welder from Darbhanga, Bihar, said.
Snatching of mobile phones by locals is also rampant. “I was returning from the construction site when some people stopped me, slapped me and took away my phone,” Ravindra Kumar, a labourer from Uttar Pradesh, said.
But Kanaram Bheel, a local who works as a helper at the construction site, said, “People from UP and Bihar are desperate to create their own lobby. Since most local helpers coming here don’t have proper education, it does not mean labourers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are being harassed.”
An L&T official said, “How can the job be given to a local when it needs specialisation?”
Ayodhya Prasad Gaur, manager, corporate communication, Cairn Energy said, “Most of the workers have returned. Earlier too production was not hampered.”
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}