Chhattisgarh seeks Sushma Swaraj help to rescue 22 labourers from Malaysia

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Rajwade said that the victims were working in Euro Plastic Company, owned by one Sulabh Jalan in Kuala Lampur. Swaraj told Rajwade that the Union government was in touch with the Malaysian authorities and Indian Embassy in Kuala Lampur. She assured that the Centre was taking all possible steps for their safe return.

The matter surfaced after some of these labourers managed to call their relatives in Chhattisgarh a fortnight ago and informed them about the inhuman condition they were being forced to live in.

The relatives contacted by the labourers claimed that they were being forced to work 12 hours a day, given little food to eat and were being put up inside a tiny shelter from where they were escorted to work and brought back. All the victims are between 20 to 30 years of age.

These relatives first filed a complaint with the Janjgir-Champa Collector. Later, a police complaint was also registered against local contractor Vijay Varman, who had allegedly “trapped” these labourers, got their passports made and got them visas for Malaysia. Varman has been arrested.

District Labour Officer Janjgir-Champa Rajesh Adile said that they often received complaints about labourers from the district being made captive elsewhere.

“The administration has not seriously considered the issue so far. The state and the Central governments need to work together to rehabilitate such labourers,” he said.

Chhattisgarh reports largescale migration of labourers to other states, many of them work in captivity and are later released by the efforts of NGOs.

Over 700 labourers from Chhattisgarh were released from captivity in various parts of the country in the last two years.

Interestingly, Janjgir-Champa recorded maximum migration of nearly 30000 labourers in the last two years. Besides, the rate of minor girls trafficked from the tribal belt of Surguja and Bastar is also very high.