CHENNAI: Left without jobs, shelter, and in some cases food, many migrant workers are on the brink of developing mental health issues. Akaladev Sahni is one of them. A native of Begusarai in Bihar, Sahni works for Fomra Housing in Chennai. The 32-year-old seems fine from the outside, except that he has not been speaking to friends and roommates.
“We are worried that he needs medical attention. He doesn’t talk to us anymore. It takes four or five of us to even take him to the restroom. He needs help, buy none is willing to listen,” says his friend Biswajit Chauhan, a native of Kutinagar in Uttar Pradesh. “Yet another worker here has gone into depression. But, higher-ups are not willing to even listen to the problems we face.”
Recently, around 140 workers here staged a sit-in protest, demanding adequate food supplies and payment of pending salaries from March. Police turned up, negotiated with the workers, and sent them back to camp. Workers say they wanted to go home once the government announced the lockdown, but were worried about leaving without their pending wages.
“What if it never comes?” The company’s supervisor says there are around 140 labourers at the camp, and they are being cared for. “We are making arrangements to pay their salaries by Monday. Also, there is no shortage of food here,” the supervisor said. Workers deny the company version. “They took good care of us in the first phase of lockdown. That’s not the case anymore,” they say.
“We are now provided with only 130 kg of wheat flour. No vegetables are given. How do we eat just roti? Also, 140kg is hardly enough for 150 people living here,” says Chauhan. “With no work, no money and away from families, we are all getting depressed. We need people to help us live with our dignity, help us get our salaries and send us home.”
The State labour department has got in touch with the workers, raising their hopes. Volunteers and non-profits have also reached out, and promised supplies to help them tide through the lockdown. Earlier, Express reported how hundreds of construction workers are also stuck at Ayanambakkam, with their salaries yet to be paid. “We are still waiting for money due in the first week of April,” they said.
Employers highlight liquidity crunch to pay salaries
CHENNAI: The Employers’ Federation of Southern India has asked the governments to intervene and solve the plight of MSMEs in the country. It said the employers are facing tremendous difficulty on account of zero production and sales, to pay wages or salaries to employees during the lockdown period for the month of April 2020. Stating that employers face a threat of criminal prosecution in the event of non- payment of wages or any other problem to the employee, like contracting COVID, EFSI said that businesses are already facing an extraordinary situation and Governments around the world are helping business to stay afloat. “In such a situation, threat of a criminal prosecution would make it difficult for employers to resurrect their business,” it said.