Labour unions stage protest, seek compensation for flood-hit landless labourers

Dihati Mazdoor Sabha and Pendu Mazdoor Union, under the Sanjha Morcha (joint front) of Rural and Farm Workers’ Organisations, today protested against the Central and state governments for ignoring landless workers affected by the Punjab floods.

Condemning the state and Central governments for grossly ignoring the landless and resourceless workers affected by the floods, the union members today marched to the SDM office in Jalandhar, raising slogans. On the occasion, they also sent a memorandum to the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister through SDM Jalandhar-1.

The protesting workers demanded a compensation of Rs 25 lakh, per family, for the kin of those killed in the floods, besides a government job for one member of the family. Addressing the gathering, the state vice-secretary of Dehati Mazdoor Sabha, Baldev Singh Nurpuri, said the floods were not a natural disaster but a man-made disaster arising from the negligence of the governments, all-round corruption and the deadly approach of ignoring the interests of the people.

Nurpuri said the Chief Minister of Punjab did not consider it appropriate to even mention the names of landless and resourceless workers and Dalits while announcing the relief package for the flood victims. He alleged that the state government had adopted an anti-worker, anti-Dalit approach since the formation of the AAP government.

He also condemned the Centre for not doing enough for providing relief to the flood victims. The unions also demanded that the labour families affected by the floods be given a lump-sum subsistence allowance, appropriate compensation for collapsed and damaged houses, dairy cattle and other equipment as per the market value, and that proper arrangements be made for the prevention of diseases that spread after the floods.