Friday, December 20, 2013

Four arrested in palm chopping case

--State provides Rs 4 lakh aid to each victim 

NUAPADA/BHUBANESWAR: Finally, the Nuapada police on Wednesday arrested four persons from Kotamal village under Khariar block in Nuapada district suspecting their involvement in chopping off the right hands of the migrant labourers of Kalahandi district.

The four persons were identified as Arta Dundi, Parabeswar Dundi, Bana Majhi and Baikuntha Rout of Kotamal village under the Khariar police station. “After nabbing the culprits from their villager, we handed them over to the Kalahandi police for further investigation,” said Khariar IIC Sibaram Sahoo.

Meanwhile, the District Press Club of Nuapada conducted a meeting on Wednesday to discuss about the issue of torture and exploitation of migrant labourers in the district. The members of the Press Club submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister of India and the Chief Minister of Odisha to formulate a concrete policy on the serious issue. They also sent letters to MLAs and MPs of the State requesting them to think seriously about a national policy on the migration and migrant labourers.

After two days of the incident, the State Government on Wednesday announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh each for the two migrant labourers. Labour and Employment Minister Bijayshree Routray said the State Government would also bear the entire cost towards the treatment of these two labourers, who are presently undergoing treatment at the district headquarters hospital at Bhawanipatna.

Expressing grave concern over the issue, Routray said the Government would soon amend the relevant act to provide greater protection to migrant labourers and to take strong action against unscrupulous labour contractors.

Notably, a contractor and his henchmen had chopped off the right hands of two migrant labourers- Dialu Nial of Pipalguda and Nilambar Dhangda Majhi of Nuaguda villages under Jaipatna police station in Kalahandi district on Sunday night when they expressed their inability to go outside the State for working there.

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