Migrant workers denied salaries as labour contractors, sub-contractors, developers involved in blame game

C Shivakumar @ Chennai: (Pix Devdatta)
Contractors, who have hired migrant workers in the construction sites of developers have not paid them their due salaries leaving these workers and their families in lurch during the lockdown.

After Express highlighted the plight of migrant workers in a site in Ayanambakkam, who were not paid for the last two months, a few of them got one-month salary but many were left high and dry resulting in these migrant workers protesting.

Interestingly, the issue of non-payment salaries to migrant workers has resulted in blame-game between the contractors, sub-contractors and developers with none taking the responsibility.

Thirty-three year old Bhagirathi, a carpenter from Chappra district in Bihar and a father of two children who started working in the site from November, told Express that he was paid the salary for the month of February and it was a huge relief for his.

But many of his colleagues have been left in lurch. Twenty-eight-year-old Krishnakumar from Chattrapur in Madhya Pradesh said his contractor Joginder did not pay him the salary for Februray and March.

"I had taken a loan of Rs 60,000 to Rs 65,000 as loan for my marriage. Now these peope call me often asking me to pay back the money. Here officials are promising us to may but the payment never happens. Even my parents and wife is worried. Atleast they could have made arrangement for us to go back home as no work is happening," he rues.

Same is the plight of Rohit Kumar, 35, who is married and has a daughter, who are staying with his mother and father. "They are solely dependent on my earnings to buy food provisions, says Kumar, a carpenter, who hails from Banda district in Uttar Pradesh. "They have to pay two month salary of Rs 50,000," he says.

Interestingly, Joginder is a sub-contracter who provides manpower to other organisation belonging to Bhavesh Patel. Joginder told Express that he has yet to get money from the conractor then only he could pay the workers. The developer who pays the contractor told Express that they have a month credit-cycle and payment has been made to the contractors.

"These contractors are responsible to the workers they hired. It is not the responsibility of developers. Despite this we are providing the migrant workers with food allowance," says the developer.

It is learnt that the contractor makes a huge profit by supplying the workers. "They should have worked out an alternative for difficult times. I  have to pay my employees at this difficult times. I can't say that the EMIs are not being paid so I won't pay them. The responsibility lies solely on the contractors. They are using this to blackmail us," he says.

Kumar says the workers around 300 of them protested for two hours following which a police officer intervened and held talks with the supervisor who promised to that the isuue will be sorted out within a week.

"Now we are hoping that we are paid the salary after a week. Most of our families are in distress," says Kumar.