The Centre, in a letter to the Punjab government, has alleged that migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar were being employed as bonded labo...
The Centre, in a letter to the Punjab government, has alleged that migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar were being employed as bonded labourers on farms in the state, given drugs and exploited, The Indian Express reported on Friday.
The letter came at a time when farmers have been protesting against the Centre’s three agricultural laws for months now. The movement poses one of the biggest challenges to Narendra Modi since he took power in 2014, as he faces criticism from all sides, including from some allies of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The ministry, in a letter dated March 17, said that the Border Security Force had rescued 58 such labourers from Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Ferozepur and Abohar districts between 2019 and 2020.
“During the course of questioning, it emerged that most of them were either mentally challenged or were in a feeble state of mind and have been working as bonded labourers with farmers in border villages of Punjab,” the home ministry said, according to The Indian Express. “The persons apprehended belong to poor family background and hail from remote areas of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.”
The Centre alleged that these labourers were hired by human traffickers on the promise of a good pay. “But after reaching Punjab, they are exploited, paid...
