Paddy season: Punjab farmers taking buses to Bihar, UP to bring labour

Parvesh Sharma

Tribune News Service

Sangrur, June 6

Facing labour shortage due to Covid-19, Punjab farmers are now taking buses to Bihar and Uttar Pardesh to bring workers for paddy transplantation.

Sixty labourers reached Barnala district on Friday; 90 farmers have got the permission to ply buses to UP and Bihar. Four more buses carrying labourers will reach here in two-three days.

In other districts also farmers are sending special buses to bring labourers.

“We had sent two buses to UP’s Pilibhit and Dhaka Mathari in Bihar. In total, we have spent around Rs 1.8 lakh. Farmers and labourers will share the cost of transportation. In two buses, 60 labourers have reached Kaire and Channwal villages of district,” said Jagseer Singh Chhiniwal, Barnala district president of BKU (Lakhowal).

Sources said in Barnala district, around 90 farmers have got permission from the Deputy Commissioner to bring labourers from other states for paddy transplantation. The labourers brought from other states will be quarantined at various places and health department officers will conduct their mandatory tests. After getting the reports, farmers will be allowed to get the work done from these labourers.

As per Barnala DC TPS Phoolka: “We have started giving permission to farmers to bring labourers from other districts. But we are taking all the precautions to prevent the spread of Covid-19. We have been giving permission with the condition that farmers will get the tests of labourers done before sending them to fields.”

Talking to The Tribune, farmers from other districts also confirmed that they had been trying to bring labourers from other states.

“Labour shortage has created serious problems for farmers. Though farmers from across Punjab have been trying to bring in labour from outside, it is not possible for many of them. The Punjab government should take steps to bring labour rather than allowing farmers because government can do it easily,” said Jagjeet Singh Dallewala, Punjab president of BKU (Sidhupur) from Dallewala village of Faridkot district.

Farmers alleged that last year the local labour was charging Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000 per acre for paddy transplantation, but this year they have started demanding Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,500.

Many have also hired rickshaw pullers for the job.

“The spread of coronavirus has compelled me to restart paddy transplantation after a gap of 15 years,” said Shankar, a migrant labourer, working in fields at Thalesa village of Sangrur.