Labourers 'exploited' in defence projects; CM Soren to talk to Rajnath

Claiming that migrant labourers of Jharkhand working in high-altitude defence projects are exploited by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), Chief Minister Hemant Soren said that he will take up the matter with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, as the situation has not changed despite repeated communications.

The chief minister demanded 'martyr' status for the labourers who die laying infrastructure for the armed forces in inhospitable terrains, and claimed that labourers return to the state with bitter memories and do not want to work again for the BRO because of the undignified treatment they get.

In an interview to PTI, Soren said that once the state gets over the COVID-19 crisis, he will personally hold meetings with chief ministers and administrators of various states and Union territories such as Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh and pitch for a robust mechanism to check workers' exploitation.

The BRO, however, denied the accusations of ...