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Even as the state is planning to bring an ordinance to protect the 25 lakh strong migrant labourers from other states who are employed here, it has turned a blind eye to the exploitation of tribal migrant labourers in Wayanad who work in ginger and plantain fields in Karnataka. In what could be the only inter-state agriculture labour migration from the state, tribals estimated to be over 5,000 and mainly belonging to the Paniya and Adiya communities, continue to work in Coorg, Shimoga and Hassan in Karnataka without any documentation and in violation of the Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act. The district administration, in a report submitted to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in October, has admitted that such workers in Karnataka reside in unhygienic conditions with no basic facilities. The report states that the workers receive a part of their daily wages as liquor. NHRC is probing into complaints of exploitation of migrant labourers from Wayanad. A field study conducted by Neethi Vedi, an organization which had taken up the cause with NHRC, in 2008 had revealed that there have been 34 cases of suspicious/unnatural deaths and 36 cases of death due to occupational diseases among tribal migrant labourers in Coorg. It was also found out that the supply of spurious liquor was rampant and that the labourers were forced to work in unhealthy conditions. The labourers are taken to Karnataka to work in the around 30,000 acres of ginger fields, mainly taken on lease by farmers from Kerala. Though it is mandatory for labourers to be registered at the district labour office and at police stations, it is seldom followed. "It is difficult to control the interstate migration due to jurisdictional limitations. We tried to restrict transport of labourers across the border in jeeps, but then people resorted to crossing the border by other means," said Wayanad district collector K G Raju. He said the workers were lured to Karnataka with the promise of liquor adding that the only way to solve the problem is to create awareness among workers about the pitfalls of cross-border labour. Yet another hurdle the district administration faces is that it has no power to conduct field visits in Karnataka, he said. Though the district administration in the report submitted to NHRC stated that it has taken steps for strict action against labour violations as per the Bonded Labour Act and that instances of taking unregistered people to Karnataka will be considered as human trafficking, no case has been taken yet under the provisions. District labour officer K Rajan said though registrations were made mandatory, no one has volunteered to register their name under the Inter-State Migrant Act. Fr Stephen Mathew, director of Neethi Vedhi said the state government has been dragging the case for almost two years now and is yet to file an affidavit in the Kerala high court. "Exploitation of hapless tribal labourers continues in Karnataka. The government has failed to take any action to end the abuse. Even our demand regarding compensation, for families of migrant labourers who are dead or missing, hasn't been considered yet," he said.
Keywords
Kerala, migrants, Karnataka, tribal labourers, government, high court, state, Wayanad, fields
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