Punjab farmers demand special trains from Bihar and UP to bring labourers for Paddy plantation

kds1980 · #1 (**permalink**) 11-Jun-2010, 15:23 PM

Punjab farmers demand special trains from Bihar and UP to bring labourers for Paddy plantation @ www.punjabnewsline.com

RAJPURA(Patiala): Facing an acute shortage of migrant labourers for paddy plantation, the peasants of Punjab Thursday demanded to run
special rains from Bihar to enable labourers reach Punjab.

The paddy season in Punjab has started today. However the paddy plantation is expected to be delayed due to shortage of farm hands. Thousands of labourers reach Punjab every year for paddy plantation to make fast buck. The decline in migrant labourers has been noticed in recent years particularly after center government started NREGA scheme for rural areas.

Farmers from Patiala and Sangrur districts, the main paddy growing areas, who gathered at Rajpura railway station to carry migrant labourers with them for the paddy transplantation said that labourers who want to come to Punjab were not getting space in trains. The trains were heavily booked due to summer vacations as many tourists have been coming to Vaishno Devi or Golden temple for pilgrimage, said farmers.

Paddy farmers queued up outside the Rajpura railway station with the aim of hiring migrant labourers. Some had even brought liquor to woo the workers.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/sikh-news/30904-punjab-farmers-demand-special-trains-bihar.html

Charanjit Singh and Baljit Singh of village Ghamada district Sangrur came here for migrant labourers said that since state government has fixed the time to start paddy transplantation from June 10 and labourers were not available to them as they cannot rotate by two three farmers. Earlier we have enough time for trans-plantation.

Balbir Singh of village Phuman-Wal District Sangrur said “We have been offering many facilities to them (migrant labourers) to accompany with them to their fields”. Union Government should come forwarded to start special trains fro the migrant labourers.

"We have no other options other than wheat and paddy as marketing facilty was not available for any other crop”, said Gurdeep Singh and Nahar Singh of Siduwal village of Patiala district.
Another reason of labour shortage is the launching of development projects by Bihar and UP governments and introducing NREGA -job guaranteed scheme by centre government.