'Dispose-after-use’ migrant labourers
India spares no occasion to criticize the administration of countries such as Australia or America when Indians living there are attacked, calling it nothing less than ‘racism’. The government seems to believe that such incidents of communal hatred have to be condemned only when they happen on foreign soil. The exploitation and abuse of labourers from North Karnataka don’t come under this purview when they happen on the soil of southern part of the state. Why don’t the incidents of assault on labourers coming from places like Vijayapura and surrounding areas come to Mangaluru or Bengaluru for work, count as racism? Why doesn’t the state government pay heed to this and have a legal framework to protect their interests in place? The situation of labourers who move from north Karnataka to south, or to Mumbai from Bihar and to Gujarat from states such as Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh or any others.
In some way, more than those who leave the country in search of jobs; the situation of migrant labourers within their own country is more miserable to the core. A lot of them are being assaulted feeding into the rumour of ‘child lifters’. Their looks, language and culture set them apart from the locals. We often forget that our own people have also left our state and are earning their bread elsewhere. We show such intolerance towards Tamils, Telugus and Malayalis. However, this selective rage is never on the rich and elite. This is restricted to tea stall owners, car drives, labourers, hawkers etc.
We often run them down in an attempt to feel superior to them. We deem the Marathi people villains only when they attack Kannadigas living there. We want migrant labourers to do menial jobs for us but we prefer to keep them away from us. Our buildings can be built by those, but our gates will always remain closed for them. We perceive them as robbers, theifs and rapists when we are forced to trust them. The recent developments in Gujarat are an excellent example of this. The locals blamed a labourer, also a Bihari immigrant, of sexually assaulting a minor girl in the afternoon of September 28, 2018.
Soon after, series of assaults were unleashed upon the Biharis and north Indian immigrant labourers. Ruling BJP blamed Congress and Khatri Sena’s Alpesh Thakur as forces behind this evil attack. Even the sexual assault victim was said to be from Thakur community. From there things took a different social turn and this was used as an occasion to get even with the immigrant community that was stealing their jobs. Immigrant exodus began in hoards since violence was unleashed on labourers from other states. This naturally affected the industries and many sectors including real estate which uses their services heavily for their day-to-day work.
The industrialists began to request the politicians and leaders of the communities to check this trend and ensure the labourers didn’t flee the state. Protection was provided to industries that had employed labourers to ensure smooth flow of work and projects. The Industries and Commerce Federation of Gujarat requested intervention of Gujarat CM into the matter. This matter had to be resolved urgently since the investors’ conference was going to be initiated soon in 2019 January. Guj govt didn’t want the festive season to be affected along with industries suffering the ordeal.
This problem may be sorted soon. But that will provide no respite from the problems faced by migrant labourers. Their situation would be far worse than that of locals working in the same category. They do not even have negotiating power on salaries or benefits with their employers. They do not get representation on labour unions because of their immigrant status. They would like to come under the banner of some institution for their safety and welfare. The country and ruling dispensation should have more humane approach towards their plight and help them find a solution. There has to be some parameters in place to safeguard their lives when riots break out. It is a fundamental right. We must not treat them like a use-and-throw option to suit our requirements.
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Speaker rules out discussion on Guv''s conduct amid K''taka Assembly standoff
Bengaluru (PTI): In an effort to end the logjam over the Governor's address that has stalled proceedings for the past week, Karnataka Assembly Speaker U T Khader on Wednesday ruled that legislators should not discuss Thaawarchand Gehlot or his conduct in the house, saying such debates send the wrong message to the public.
The House has witnessed repeated disruptions and adjournments since the session began on January 22 over the issue of the governor's conduct.
During his address to the joint sitting of the Karnataka legislature on January 22, Gehlot read out only three sentences from the 122-paragraph speech prepared by the state government.
The speech included criticism of the Centre for replacing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajivika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G), portions of which the governor declined to read.
Concluding his address in about two minutes, the governor left the house, triggering a commotion as Congress legislators attempted to gherao him and raised slogans.
While the opposition BJP accused the ruling Congress and its ministers of "insulting" the governor and demanded action, the treasury benches countered by claiming the governor had "insulted the National Anthem by leaving before it was played."
The house again witnessed heated arguments on the issue earlier in the day, leading to adjournment.
During the interruption, Khader held a meeting with ministers and opposition members to resolve the impasse.
When proceedings resumed, the speaker delivered his ruling.
Referring to the events of January 22 and the subsequent debate, Khader said the conduct and discussions had conveyed the wrong message to the public.
"Our conduct as members of this House and the opinions expressed must be in good taste and in accordance with constitutional provisions. They must uphold the dignity of the House and its members. We must introspect in this direction," he said.
He stressed the need for caution to ensure that such incidents are not repeated in the future.
"Let us end this matter here, continue the discussion on the motion of thanks to the governor, and refrain from discussing the governor or his conduct in this house," the speaker said.
Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka said the house should express regret over what he termed an "insult" to the governor.
Responding, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the situation would not have arisen had the governor read out the entire address.
"Asking the house to express regret is not appropriate. Why did the governor leave even before the National Anthem was played," Siddaramaiah asked.
BJP MLA S Suresh Kumar reminded Siddaramaiah that as Leader of the Opposition in 2011, he had asked then Governor Hansraj Bhardwaj to curtail his address.
Bhardwaj had subsequently placed the address on the table of the house, requesting members to treat it as read.
Siddaramaiah said the situation in January 2011 was different from the present one.
The debate grew intense, leading to another adjournment of the house.
