Ladakh administration, along with some NGOs, stepped up to save over 7,000 'trapped' migrant labourers from starvation as these helpless non-local workers neither returned to their native places nor reach their workplaces, due to COVID restrictions.
A large number of labourers, the majority of them from Jharkhand, are hired by the contractors engaged with Border Roads Organisation (BRO) to execute developmental works in the Cold Desert. As Ladakh authorities have imposed COVID restrictions to check the spread of the deadly virus, these labourers are trapped in different places.
At some places, authorities with the support of local social groups, have started community kitchens while in other places dry ration is distributed among stranded non-local labourers.
Development not possible without these migrant labourers
Engaged with BRO contractors for years together, these migrant labourers are experts in the working conditions of the Ladakh region. Without these migrant labourers, executing development works is impossible so every year in the month of April thousands of non-local labourers reached Ladakh.
The expertise of these labourers is required to complete various construction projects, including mega road projects, being undertaken along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, particularly the strategically important eastern areas of the region.
Fake negative RT-PCR report detected from migrant labourers
Entry of non-local labourers in Ladakh was banned after authorities detected many fake RT-PCR negative reports in the possession of workers. The non-local workers have managed these fake negative reports from their native places to enter Ladakh without mandatory Covid tests at different entry points.
Chief Executive Councilor (CEC) of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) Leh, Tashi Gyalson, has directed the concerned officials to restrict the induction of non-local labourers for the time being until further notification.
Authorities mapping locations of trapped labourers
The Ladakh administration is mapping various locations of the migrant labourers in Leh town and rural areas to ensure no one left without basic commodities during the lockdown period and to achieve a free and fair distribution of ration.
The rations are being distributed under Central Government schemes Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana. The free distribution of ration is being made under the supervision of the Sub-divisional Magistrate in coordination with Sarpanchs of Panchayats and Councilors of Ladakh Hill Development Council.
