Farmers set their eyes on migrant labourers

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, June 14

The city railway station is seen crowded by farmers who come to hire migrant labourers ahead of the paddy sowing season, beginning from June 20.

Gone are the days when farmers would easily get labourers for their fields. These days, labourers demand good money for their work, along with non-vegetarian food and liquor, to strike a deal.

A large number of farmers can be seen waiting for labourers at the railway station these days in this hot and humid weather.

Farmers are a worried lot as the date for paddy transplantation is approaching, but migrant labourers are not coming in the city in huge numbers. Moreover, labourers who are coming are demanding high wages this time.

A few of them say ban on early transplantation had also resulted in delay in movement of the labourers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Sukhmander Singh, a farmer from Jodhpur Romana village, said they came to the railway station to hire labourers for their fields but could not strike a deal as labourers were demanding high wages.

BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) district president Shingara Singh Mann said delay in sowing of paddy had led to loss for farmers and migrant labourers as the former would face the problem of labourers after June 20.

Earlier, migrant labourers would return to their state by June 25 as transplantation of paddy would start in their states after completing the work in Punjab, but this time the delay in sowing paddy has affected both, he added.

Opium, ‘bhang’, ‘ganja’ and country-made liquor are still the favourite baits of farmers to lure labourers.